Need help finding an XML editor for class

[dh.evolutionnext]

Hey, I am an instructor and I have an XML class coming up. I would just
like to know a good, easy, and intuitive XML editor that does
validating, code completion, etc. I usually use NetBeans but that is
too java-centric. I want something neutral.

 

[Peter Flynn]

Hey, I am an instructor and I have an XML class coming up. I would
just like to know a good, easy, and intuitive XML editor that does
validating, code completion, etc. I usually use NetBeans but that is
too java-centric. I want something neutral.

See http://xml.silmaril.ie/developers/software/ -- the note on Editors

///Peter

 

[Peter Flynn]

Hey, I am an instructor and I have an XML class coming up. I would
just like to know a good, easy, and intuitive XML editor that does
validating, code completion, etc. I usually use NetBeans but that is
too java-centric. I want something neutral.

I'd be interested to try and understand what you mean by "intuitive" in
this context, because everyone has their own definition, and what seems
intuitive to a programmer may be counter-productive for an author, and
vice versa.

///Peter

 

[Magnus Henriksson]

Hey, I am an instructor and I have an XML class coming up. I would just
like to know a good, easy, and intuitive XML editor that does
validating, code completion, etc. I usually use NetBeans but that is
too java-centric. I want something neutral.

Try JEdit (http://www.jedit.org/) with the XML Plugin.


// Magnus

 

[Stylus Studio]

HI - Try Stylus Studio. The main advantages of using it for teaching
purposes are 2-fold:

(1) you can use any XML processor (MSXML, .NET, Apache Xalan, Apache
Xerces, Saxon, XSV, DataDirect XQuery .. or whatever). I have found
from personal experience in teaching XML classes, that the students
come from different technological backgrounds, so support for
C++/Java/.NET processors is a plus.

(2) The XML Schema Editor (
http://www.stylusstudio.com/xml_schema_editor.html ), XSLT Editor (
http://www.stylusstudio.com/xslt_editor.html ), and XQuery Editor (
http://www.stylusstudio.com/xquery_editor.html ) all provide
synchronized graphical editing views and text editing, so students can
edit the code and at the same time, see a visual representation of what
they are working on, this is the same intuitive approach used by tools
like dreamweaver/frontpage for HTML editing.

A free trial is available here:
http://www.stylusstudio.com/xml_download.html
There are some academic discounts here:
http://www.stylusstudio.com/academic_pricing.html
And, here is a marketing piece that talks about 10 reasons why schools
use Stylus Studio to teach XML:
http://www.stylusstudio.com/why_home_edition.html


Hope that helps.

Sincerely,
The Stylus Studio Team
http://www.stylusstudio.com

 

[xmlBlueprint Team]

For a much cheaper alternative, try xmlBlueprint: www.xmlblueprint.com.

 

[Aaron Mehl]

Hey, I am an instructor and I have an XML class coming up. I would just
like to know a good, easy, and intuitive XML editor that does
validating, code completion, etc. I usually use NetBeans but that is
too java-centric. I want something neutral.

Well I have used a number of editors and this is a tricky question.
I am currently using nxml-mode which is extremely intuitive. But it is not
a gui...

Oxygen and xmlspy are two other I have tried that have all the whistles
and buzzers.

The advantage of xmlspy is it is very mature, I would guess it is
expensive...

the nxml mode has realtime validation and completion and a whole lot more,
learning it for xml and they have something they can use forever.

I worry that the commercial products when things change my dissapear, but
emacs (love it or hate it) will be there for years, and look who created
nxml mode..

Aaron

 

[Peter Flynn]

Well I have used a number of editors and this is a tricky question.

It certainly is, which is why it's my research topic

There is a short piece in the FAQ about editors in the section on
software at http://xml.silmaril.ie/developers/software/ with some
pointers to a couple of comparative studies.

A lot depends on what your students need to do. If they are editing
normal text documents, they'll need different facilities to people
editing data.

There ain't no such animal as intuitive. Period. What's intuitive
to you is going to be obscure to someone else, and vice versa.

But validating, for sure, almost all editors do that: they'd be useless
without it. I'm not sure what code completion is, but if you mean TAB
completion of partially-typed element type names, like Emacs/psgml
does it, that's rather uncommon. Most editors have an Insert Element
menu which lets the user pick.

Let us know what you chose and why. A personal recommendation (or
disrecommendation!) is always useful

///Peter