XML Editor¶

Version: 2.0.1

The XML Editor is the main feature of FreeXmlToolkit. It provides a powerful and easy-to-use interface for working with XML files.

Overview¶

XML Editor - Text Mode The XML Editor in text mode with syntax highlighting

XML Editor - Grid Mode The XML Editor in the Graphic view (grid) for structured editing

The editor toolbar is a single slim row. Related actions sit in split buttons with a visible ▾ arrow menu (e.g. Save As / Save All under Save ▾, Minify under Format ▾); secondary tools are icon-only buttons with tooltips. See Unified Shell - Toolbar for the full reference.

With an XML file active, the toolbar offers:

Button	Shortcut	Description
New	Ctrl+N	Open the guided New File dialog
Open	Ctrl+O	Open one or more files
Save ▾	Ctrl+S	Save the current file; the arrow menu holds Save As… (Ctrl+Shift+S) and Save All
Undo / Redo	Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y	Undo / redo the last change (icon buttons)
Format ▾	Shift+Alt+F	Pretty-print the document; the arrow menu holds Minify. (Note: Ctrl+Shift+F opens Find in Files, not document search.)
Insert Template	-	Insert a snippet from the template system (icon button)
Compare	-	Compare the document with another file, side by side (icon button)
Spreadsheet	-	Excel / CSV ↔ XML converter (icon button)
Query Console	Ctrl+Shift+X	Toggle the bottom XPath/XQuery console (icon button)
Transform XSLT	-	Pick a stylesheet and transform the active XML (icon button)
Schema ▾	-	Set XSD Schema… for IntelliSense and validation; the arrow menu also holds Generate Documentation… and Type Editor… (enabled for XSD files)
Validate	F8	Validate the document (accent-colored primary action)

The Run ▾ button and the Target dropdown appear when a query, XSLT, or XProc document is active - see Query Documents.

Working with Files¶

Opening and Saving Files¶

File Operations The shell header and the editor toolbar with the New, Open, Save ▾, and Format ▾ buttons

Open Files: Click "Open" or use Ctrl+O to browse for XML files
Save Files: Click "Save" or use Ctrl+S to save changes to the current file
Save As: Use Ctrl+Shift+S (or the Save ▾ arrow menu) to save the current file with a new name
Save All: Pick Save All from the Save ▾ arrow menu to save every open document tab at once (untitled tabs prompt you for a file name)
Create New: Click "New" (Ctrl+N) to open the guided New File dialog - pick a file type, an optional template or schema, and start editing
Drag & Drop: Drag files from your file explorer into the editor
Recent Files: Reopen recently used files from the Explorer panel's RECENT section or the Welcome page

Multiple Files¶

Open multiple XML files in separate tabs. Each tab shows the file name and indicates unsaved changes with an asterisk (*).

Editing Modes¶

Text Mode¶

Text Mode Editing Text editor with syntax highlighting

The text editor provides:

Syntax Highlighting: XML elements, attributes, and values are color-coded
Line Numbers: Every line is numbered for easy reference
Code Folding: Click arrows to collapse or expand sections
Auto-Completion: Type < to see suggestions for valid elements
Error Highlighting: Invalid XML is highlighted in red
Edit Properties: Move the text cursor into an element and edit its properties in the Properties inspector - see Properties Inspector

Tree View¶

Tree view showing XML structure

See your XML document as a hierarchical tree
Click any node (element, text, comment, CDATA, or processing instruction) to select it
Edit the selected node's properties in the Properties inspector - see Properties Inspector
Right-click for context menu options

Graphic Mode (Grid)¶

For XML documents, the Graphic view shows the editable XMLSpy-style grid.

XML Grid view in the Unified Shell An XML document in the Graphic view (XMLSpy-style grid editing)

The grid provides:

Table View: Edit XML data in a spreadsheet-like interface
Header Strip: A header at the top ("Grid view · nested · repeating elements as embedded grids") with a Collapse all button that folds every container at once
Value Markers: Rows with a simple value are marked with {}; collapsed containers show a "collapsed" hint
Direct Cell Editing: Click cells to edit values directly
Easy Navigation: Move through the document using arrow keys
Sorting: Sort data by clicking column headers
Structural Editing: Add, delete, and move nodes through the right-click context menu
Edit Properties: Select a row to edit its properties in the Properties inspector - see Properties Inspector

Properties Inspector¶

The Properties inspector lets you view and edit a node's properties in all three XML views - Text, Tree, and Graphic.

The Properties inspector shows the details of the currently selected node and lets you change them. Toggle the panel with the toggle at the right end of the editor toolbar; it appears on the right side of the editor.

Selecting a Node¶

How you select a node depends on the active view:

Text view - Move the text caret into an element. That element is selected automatically and shown in the inspector. If the caret is not inside a well-formed element, the inspector shows a read-only view with the node's name and XPath.
Tree view - Click a node in the tree (element, text, comment, CDATA, or processing instruction).
Graphic view - Select a row in the grid.

What You Can Edit¶

Depending on the node type, the inspector lets you edit:

Element name and its namespace (prefix and URI)
Attributes - add, rename, and remove them
Text content of leaf elements
Text of comments, CDATA sections, and processing instructions

Your edits are written straight back to the document, so the source text always stays in sync. In the Text view, edits are applied as a minimal change that keeps your caret and scroll position in place.

Read-Only Schema Hints¶

When the XML file is bound to an XSD schema, the inspector also shows helpful, read-only information for the selected element:

The schema type derived from the XSD
The element's documentation
Lists of valid child elements and example values

These hints help you fill in correct content but cannot be edited from the inspector.

Shared Across Views¶

All three views share a single in-memory model for each open document. This means your edits - and your full Undo / Redo history - are preserved when you switch between the Text, Tree, and Graphic views.

Note: Adding, deleting, or moving whole nodes (structural editing) is done in the Graphic view (the grid) via its right-click context menu. The Text and Tree views provide property editing through the inspector.

Search (Find)¶

Search works in every view mode - Text, Tree, and Graphic.

Press Ctrl+F to find text in your document. An inline search bar opens where you type your search term and use the up and down arrows (Find Previous / Find Next, or Enter / Shift+Enter) to move between matches; the search wraps around at the end.

Search works in all views (case-insensitive):

Text view - Matches are highlighted in the source. Replace is available here.
Tree and Graphic views - The search looks through element names, attribute names, and values across the whole document. The editor jumps to each matching node, auto-expanding collapsed parent nodes, selecting the matching row, and scrolling it into view. (Replace is not available here.)

If you switch the view mode (Text / Tree / Graphic) or the file tab while the search bar is open, the search re-targets the active view automatically.

Learn more: Search (Find)

Auto-Completion (IntelliSense)¶

Auto-completion popup showing element suggestions

The editor automatically suggests valid elements and attributes based on your XSD schema:

Type < to see a list of valid child elements
Navigate through suggestions with arrow keys
Press Enter to insert the selected element
Press Escape to close the suggestions

The suggestions are context-sensitive - only elements valid at your current position are shown.

Learn more: Auto-Completion Guide

Binding an XSD Schema¶

Bind an XSD to the active document directly from the editor.

If your XML does not reference its schema (or you want to use a different one), you can bind an XSD by hand:

Click the "No XSD" indicator in the status bar (it shows "XSD: name" once a schema is bound), or click the toolbar's Schema button (Set XSD Schema…).
Choose an .xsd file.

The binding applies to the active document and drives both features at once:

IntelliSense - auto-completion suggests the elements and attributes the schema allows.
Schema validation - Validate (F8) and continuous validation check against the bound XSD.

Formatting Tools¶

Pretty Print¶

Pretty Print Before Before pretty print

Click Format or use Shift+Alt+F to format your XML with proper indentation. (The Format ▾ arrow menu also offers Minify to strip all insignificant whitespace.)

Pretty Print After After pretty print

Validation¶

Validation Results Validation panel showing errors and warnings

How to Validate¶

Click Validate or press F8
If your XML references a schema, it's loaded automatically - or bind one yourself, see Binding an XSD Schema
Errors and warnings appear in the PROBLEMS panel below the editor (and in the Validation activity's PROBLEMS list)
Click an error to jump to the problem location

Supported Validation Methods¶

Method	Description
Well-Formed Check	Ensures basic XML syntax is correct
XSD Validation	Validates against XML Schema files
Schematron	Validates against business rules

Supported Schema Formats¶

Format	Support
XSD (XML Schema)	Full support (1.0 and 1.1)
Schematron	Full support
DTD	Not supported
RelaxNG	Not supported

XPath and XQuery¶

The Query Console docked below the editor - XPath query on the left, the result on the right

Use XPath and XQuery to find and extract data from your XML documents. The fastest way is the Query Console, a panel that docks along the bottom of the editor and always runs against the active document.

Using the Query Console¶

Toggle the console with Ctrl+Shift+X or the toolbar's terminal icon
Choose XPath or XQuery with the mode toggle
Enter your expression - it is syntax-highlighted, and IntelliSense suggests element names, functions, and axes as you type (or on Ctrl+Space)
Click Run (in XPath mode, Enter also runs; in XQuery mode use Ctrl+Enter)
The result appears in the read-only results pane on the right, with syntax highlighting; Copy puts it on the clipboard

Save stores the current expression as a named snippet, and the Snippets menu loads any saved XPath or XQuery snippet back into the console. See Query Console for the full reference.

XPath Examples¶

Expression	Description
`//element`	Find all elements named "element"
`//element/@attr`	Find all "attr" attributes on "element"
`/root/child[1]`	Find the first child of root
`count(//item)`	Count all item elements
`//text()`	Find all text nodes

XQuery Examples¶

Expression	Description
`for $x in //item return $x`	Return all items
`for $x in //item where $x/@id='1' return $x/name`	Filter and return

Use the Examples menu for quick insertion of common expressions.

Bundled Example Collections¶

Your FreeXmlToolkit installation ships ready-to-run query collections in the examples folder next to the application:

examples/xpath/ - 32 XPath 3.1 expressions (one per file, each with a comment header). Files 01-20 cover the basics; files 21-32 are a reporting series that joins positions, asset master data and transactions and outputs CSV, ASCII tables/charts, Markdown tables or JSON.
examples/xquery/ - 17 XQuery 3.1 scripts. Files 01-11 are data-quality checks with HTML reports; files 12-17 are reporting/export examples (CSV export, ASCII dashboard, Markdown fund report, JSON export, pivot table, two-fund comparison).
examples/xproc/ - 8 XProc 3.0 pipelines, from a minimal identity pipeline to multi-step chains: slimming with p:delete, CSV/JSON export by orchestrating the bundled stylesheets, metadata stamping, p:for-each iteration, p:choose branching and a Schematron SVRL report. See the folder's README.md.

All examples target the FundsXML4 sample documents in examples/xml/. The simplest way to run one: open the file directly and press the toolbar's Run button (Ctrl+Enter) - query, XSLT and XProc files are first-class editor documents that run against the Target dropdown's selection (by default the most recently active XML document). Alternatively paste a query into the query panel or the Query Console - the map:, array: and math: function namespaces are pre-declared, so expressions using map:merge(), array:size() etc. run without any prolog. Each folder contains a README.md describing every example.

XML/Excel/CSV Converter¶

Click the Spreadsheet Converter toolbar button (Ctrl+E) to open the converter dialog:

XML to Excel: Export XML data to Excel spreadsheet
XML to CSV: Export XML data to CSV file
Excel to XML: Import Excel data as XML
CSV to XML: Import CSV data as XML

Templates¶

Click the Insert Template toolbar button (Ctrl+T) to insert a snippet:

Insert pre-defined XML snippets
Create your own templates (Settings → Templates)
Organize templates by category

Learn more: Template Management

Schema Generator¶

Press Ctrl+G (or use the Schema panel's Generate XSD from XML tool) to generate an XSD schema from your XML:

Analyze XML structure
Generate matching XSD schema
Customize type detection

Favorites¶

Save frequently used files for quick access:

Add Favorite (Ctrl+D) - Save the current file to favorites
Favorites activity - Click the star icon in the activity bar to open the Favorites panel; click any entry to open it as a tab
Your favorites also appear in the Explorer panel's FAVORITES section and as star menus next to the file rows of the Transform, Validation, PDF/FOP, and Signature panels

Learn more: Favorites System

Keyboard Shortcuts¶

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+N	New file
Ctrl+O	Open file
Ctrl+S	Save file
Ctrl+Shift+S	Save As
Ctrl+W	Close tab
Ctrl+Z	Undo
Ctrl+Y	Redo
Ctrl+F	Find
Ctrl+H	Replace
Ctrl+G	Generate XSD from the XML
Ctrl+D	Add to favorites
Shift+Alt+F	Format/Pretty Print
Ctrl+Shift+X	Toggle the Query Console
Ctrl+E	XML/Excel converter
Ctrl+T	Templates
Ctrl+mouse wheel	Zoom the editor font (Ctrl+0 resets)
F8	Validate
`<`	Open auto-completion

Tips¶

Multiple Files: Open multiple XML files in different tabs
Remember Location: The editor remembers the last folder you used
Font Size: Hold Ctrl and scroll the mouse wheel to adjust the font size (Ctrl+0 resets)
Quick Validation: Errors are highlighted as you type
Drag & Drop: Drag files directly into the editor window
Recent Files: Use the Recent menu for quick access

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