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Old 02-06-2010, 03:59 PM   #1
dthomsen8
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Default XML Editor

I just downloaded and installed Syntext Serna Free 4.2.0-20091009.0.

This software seems to be the only free XML editor. I tried it on several XML files generated from Wikipedia, but it doesn't seem to be particularly useful, since it doesn't actually render a document. This may well be because the XML doesn't provide the proper standard.

Anyone have any advice or experience with an XML editor?

The proprietary versions seem to be quite expensive, so I don't quite see the advantage of an XML editor for my purposes.


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Old 02-06-2010, 04:47 PM   #2
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In my experience is you do not know the XML codes and the W3C standards, the software cannot be used effectively. Expression Web by Microsoft is okay, and of course there is the Dreamweaver software which is very similar but again if you do not know the codes, you will not be able to recognise the errors which some programs will flag.

If you submit your pages to the W3C checking system on the Web by uploading it, that system will tell you what is amiss but to understand what it reports you have to be familiar with the codes.

I found this out when I tried to use the software and could not make head or tail of the flagged errors.


Go through a book like Donna Baker's HTML Complete Course, and then it will all make sense to you.

There is really no short cut unless you want to pay someone to do it for you.
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Old 02-06-2010, 09:17 PM   #3
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That may depend on what your purposes are.

Some of the smart editors can ensure that your XML is validated as you type it.

Then there's always NotePad.

It sounds as though you're after something a bit wizzywiggier though?

   
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Old 02-07-2010, 01:15 PM   #4
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There are plenty of options (even good free ones) but most are either text editors or IDEs, but as Steve said - it really depends on what you want to do with it.

Notepad++ is a good free text editor with syntax highlighting and code completion (to a point), and it supports more languages than I know what to with (HTML, XHTML, XML and CSS, but mention a select few). You'll have to point a browser to the file to view it though.

BTW the one you found is one I hadn't heard of but it is supposed to be "WYSIWYG", which really is a myth since not all browsers renders things the same anyway. It seems a bit pricey though.

   
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Old 02-07-2010, 02:36 PM   #5
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And to pile on a bit more when it comes to abusing the WYSIWYG semi-myth, strictly speaking, XML is just data. In the case of XHTML, it's HTML expressed in an XML compatible way, but your garden variety XML may have nothing to display, at least w/o a companion transform to tell a browser how to display it.

   
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Old 02-07-2010, 05:20 PM   #6
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As there are several uses for XML on the web we musn't complicate matters without knowing how it is going to be used.

Once we know we can of course complificate things.

   
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Old 02-07-2010, 07:51 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bo Aakerstrom View Post
As there are several uses for XML on the web we musn't complicate matters without knowing how it is going to be used.

Once we know we can of course complificate things.
Yep ... that's why my lead was "That may depend on what your purposes are."

I should have added "and what your XML looks like."

   
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Old 02-08-2010, 02:09 AM   #8
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You need an XML style sheet (.xslt) to transform the XML data into a displayable form. Some browsers have (I think) a style sheet that renders to (X)HTML built-in - for example, you could look at a sitemap to see if your browser can render it.
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Old 02-08-2010, 10:27 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bo Aakerstrom View Post
There are plenty of options (even good free ones) but most are either text editors or IDEs, but as Steve said - it really depends on what you want to do with it.

Notepad++ is a good free text editor with syntax highlighting and code completion (to a point), and it supports more languages than I know what to with (HTML, XHTML, XML and CSS, but mention a select few). You'll have to point a browser to the file to view it though.

BTW the one you found is one I hadn't heard of but it is supposed to be "WYSIWYG", which really is a myth since not all browsers renders things the same anyway. It seems a bit pricey though.
Yes, very pricey, but there is a free version, too.
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Old 02-08-2010, 10:30 AM   #10
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Default XML style sheet?

Quote:
Originally Posted by LoisWakeman View Post
You need an XML style sheet (.xslt) to transform the XML data into a displayable form. Some browsers have (I think) a style sheet that renders to (X)HTML built-in - for example, you could look at a sitemap to see if your browser can render it.
Yes, I suspected that some such thing is needed. The XML is generated in Wikipedia with the Special:export command, but I have no idea if there is such a thing as a XML style sheet to go with that. I will post a question on the MediaWiki forum about it.
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