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What XML Tools Do You Use?

Posted by Cliff on from the tools-of-the-trade dept.

Omega1045 asks: "What XML tools do you use? XML Spy? EditPad? A pen, notepad, scanner, and a good OCR program? XML is now becoming more than just hype. XML, SOAP Web Services, and Enterprise Integration (EI) are really taking off from the number and type of contract opportunities I am seeing and receiving. Until recently, I was doing most of my XML by hand. Other than the nostalgia for those early HTML days, it is really eating into my time. I have started trying XML Spy, but to buy it will be a big hit in the wallet (which I am willing to do if it is the best thing out there). What does Slashdot recommend?"

5 of 70 comments (clear)

  1. XMLSpy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I have worked with XMLSpy and have to say working with UltraEdit is far more pleasant.

  2. tDOM and Tcl by Col.+Klink+(retired) · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Being a Tcl guy, I use tDOM. It has the fastest XSLT engine that I know of.

    --

    -- Don't Tase me, bro!

  3. Depends on your needs... by Phexro · · Score: 2, Interesting

    For editing raw XML documents, I use XEmacs. It has a nice DTD parser which you can use to show you what elements/attributes are valid in the current context. So if I'm editing XHTML, I can C-c to insert a tag. It shows what tags are valid, and you can tab-complete. C-c + allows me to insert an attribute, and it again shows which are valid and allows for tab-completion.

    To close a tag is a simple matter of C-c /. Very handy, since it will close the last open tag. If you have a big structure, you can just C-c / your way through it without having to scroll up or (gasp) remember the tag order.

    Oh, and when you use C-c to insert tags, it automatically sticks it on the next line and indents it.

    It's not for everybody, but it sure works great for me.

  4. Cooktop by Merkins · · Score: 2, Interesting
    There is a nice free (beer) application called Cooktop.

    It probably doesn't have all the features of XML Spy but it works pretty well. I use it occasionally for debugging Xpath and XSLT.

    Might be worth a look.

    --

    Learn to Improvise
  5. Right, do you mean European XML or African XML? by Creosote · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Bridgekeeper: What ... is the best tool for editing XML?

    Arthur: Do you mean datacentric XML or docucentric XML?

    Bridgekeeper: Why, I don't know th...augghhh!
    I'd agree with fm6 that one tool doesn't fit all. XML is evolving away from its SGML roots in heavy-duty document production into two "forks", one that continues to emphasize documents and uses a lot of mixed-content elements, the other that is trying hard to be a database and relying therefore on schemas that provide data typing. The earlier generation of XML editors that emerged from SGML editors, like XMetal and FrameMaker, are much more comfortable to use for functions where you essentially need an XML word processor.

    Someone has already mentioned jEdit as a Java editor with useful XML/XSL plugins. I'd add, especially for Mac OS X users, the oXygen XML editor, also Java-based, which provides a very comfortable editing environment with tag autocompletion and built in well-formedness checking and validation (including for XHTML documents, making it a nice Web editor as well). It supports XPath queries, has a built-in DTD generator [from well-formed XML], has a tree structure editor, and more. It's proprietary but not expensive.