docs/org.eclipse.wst.xmleditor.doc.user/topics/cwxmledt.dita

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<concept id="cwxmledt" xml:lang="en-us">
<title>XML editor</title>
<titlealts>
<searchtitle>XML editor</searchtitle>
</titlealts>
<shortdesc>The XML editor is a tool for creating and viewing XML files.</shortdesc>
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<keywords><indexterm>XML editor<indexterm>overview</indexterm></indexterm>
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<conbody>
<p>You can use it to perform a variety of tasks such as:</p>
<ul>
<li>Creating new, empty XML files or generating them from existing DTDs or
existing XML schemas</li>
<li>Editing XML files</li>
<li>Importing existing XML files for structured viewing</li>
<li>Associating XML files with DTDs or XML schemas</li>
</ul>
<p>The XML editor has two main views - the Source view and the Design view.
You can also use the <b>Outline</b> view to insert and delete elements.</p>
<section><title>Source view</title><p>The Source view enables you to view
and work directly with a file's source code. Many of the XML editing features
in the XML editor Source view are very similar to those available in the Source
view of Page Designer.</p><p>The Source view has many text editing features,
such as: <ul>
<li> Syntax highlighting, unlimited undo/redo, and user-defined templates.</li>
<li> Content assist, which uses the information in a DTD or schema content
model to provide a list of acceptable continuations depending on where the
cursor is located in an XML file, or what has just been type</li>
<li>"Smart" double-clicking behavior. If your cursor is placed in an attribute
value, one double-click selects that value, another double click selects the
attribute-value pair, and a third double-click selects the entire tag. This
makes it easier to copy and paste commonly used pieces of XML.</li>
</ul></p></section>
<section><title>Design view</title><p>The XML editor also has a Design view.
In it: <ul>
<li>The XML file is represented simultaneously as a table and a tree. This
helps make navigation and editing easier.</li>
<li>Content and attribute values can be edited directly in the table cells,
while pop-up menus on the tree nodes give alternatives that are valid for
that location.  For example, the <uicontrol>Add child</uicontrol> menu item
will list only those elements from a DTD or XML schema which would be valid
children at that point (as long as grammar constraints are on).</li>
</ul></p><p>The Design view is especially helpful if you are new to XML, or
need to do form-oriented editing. For example, you could use the Create XML
File wizard to create a template XML file for a job description form from
a job description DTD. After those steps are completed, you would
only have to fill in the form data using the Design view.</p><p>The following
links provide more information about the XML editor:</p></section>
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