Essential XML Editor
(Replacement for the Open XML Editor)
by
Dieter Köhler

The Essential XML Editor is a lightweight tool for text-based XML document editing. The key features of the editor include a built-in XML wellformedness tester, a DTD validator and a plug-in for the Saxon XSLT processor. This key features of the editor may be used free of charge as a "trial version". There is no time limit impossed. You may use the editor as a trial version as long as you wish.

Additionally, the Essential XML Editor includes some advanced features such as plug-ins for 3rd party Relax NG and W3C XML Schema (WXS) validators. If you wish to use the advanced features, a license fee of 10 Euro (or an equivalent in your currency) is required. Payments are processed solely by our distribution partner Share*it!. An activation key will be provided by Share*it! after paying the license fee to activate the full version.

Earlier versions of this editor had been released under the title "Open XML Editor". But since it is now required to purchase an activation key to use all features of the editor, the term "open" is no longer appropriate. It had been replaced with "essential" to indicate that the editor contains even in its trial version all the basic functionality for XML editing and DTD validation. Still available is an open source edition of the Essential XML Editor. It includes the source code to compile the editor without the advanced features.

Requirements

The Essential XML Editor has been developed and tested using Delphi XE under Windows Vista. It should also run under Windows 7 and Windows XP but not under Windows 98. Whether or not it works with other operating systems from the Windows family is unknown.

Key Features (Included in the Trial Version)
  • Color coded text based Unicode editor.
  • Supports XML 1.0 (only).
  • Document saving in UTF-8.
  • Loading of documents encoded in UTF-8, UTF-16BE, UTF-16LE, UCS-2, UCS-4, US-ASCII, ISO-8859-1, ISO-8859-2, ISO-8859-3, ISO-8859-4, ISO-8859-5, ISO-8859-6, ISO-8859-7, ISO-8859-8, ISO-8859-9, ISO-8859-10, ISO-8859-13, ISO-8859-14, ISO-8859-15, JIS_X0201, IBM037, IBM424, IBM437, IBM500, IBM850, IBM852, IBM862, IBM855, IBM857, IBM860, IBM861, IBM863, IBM864, IBM865, IBM866, IBM869, IBM1026, KOI8-R, windows-1250, windows-1251, windows-1252, windows-1253, windows-1254, windows-1255, windows-1256, windows-1257, windows-1258, MacLatin2, MacRoman, MacCyrillic, EBCDIC_US.
  • Built-in DTD validator (supports also remote DTDs).
  • Caret is automatically moved to position of well-formedness errors.
  • Line bookmarks.
  • Undo/Redo.
  • Search/Replace.
  • Shortcuts for every command.
  • Built-in file system explorer.
  • Sub-menu of recently opened files.
  • Reload.
  • Detailed page setup and print preview dialogs.
  • Plug-in for the Saxon XSLT processor.
  • External hex editor can be associated via preferences.
  • Automatic update notification.
Advanced Features (Purchase of Activation Key Required)
  • Plug-in for Jing version 20091111.
    A free Relax NG validator.
    Web-Site: http://code.google.com/p/jing-trang/
    Jing requires a Java runtime compatible with the Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE) version 1.4 (or any later version), such as the Java Runtime Environment (JRE).
  • Plug-in for Libxml2-2.7.6.
    A free Relax NG and W3C XML Schema (WXS) validator.
    Web-Site: http://www.zlatkovic.com/libxml.en.html
  • Plug-in for MSV version 20090415.
    A free Relax NG and W3C XML Schema (WXS) validator.
    Web-Site: https://msv.dev.java.net/
    MSV requires a Java runtime compatible with the Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE) version 1.4 (or any later version), such as the Java Runtime Environment (JRE).

Note that in order to use these plug-ins, you need to download the 3rd party validators from the specified Web-sites. After installing them, you need to tell the Essential XML Editor where they are located on your hard disk: Choose the "View/Preferences..." menu entry. The Preferences dialogue opens up. Choose the "Tools (2)" tab (available only after activation) and enter the path for each 3rd party validator.

What's new in version 1.6.4
  • Error message display improved (key feature).
  • Plug-ins for Jing, Libxml2 and MSV added (advanced features).
Screenshots

[Screenshot] This screenshot shows the main user interface of the Essential XML Editor after checking a document for well-formedness: A missing equality sign was detected in line 7. Click on the image to see the screenshot in original size.

[Screenshot] This screenshot shows the "Tools (2)" tab of the Preferences dialogue. This tab is available after activating the advanced features. Here you must enter the path to each 3rd party validator you wish to use. Note that the actual paths on your system may differ from those in the screenshot. Click on the image to see the screenshot in original size.

Download the Essential XML Editor 1.6.4 Binaries

The following file is all you need to install the Essential XML Editor on your computer:

  • exedit-1.6.bin.zip (ca. 4 MByte)
    Installation: Unzip the file and run "Essential XML Editor Setup.exe".

See the Essential XML Editor End-User License Agreement for legal information.

Purchase an Activation Key to Unlock the Advanced Features

Activation keys are available for 10 Euro (or an equivalent in your currency) from our distribution partner Share*it!

To enter the activation key, run the Essential XML Editor and choose the menu entry "Extras/Enter Activation Key..."

The Open Source Edition of the Essential XML Editor

The precursor of the Essential XML Editor was called Open XML Editor. It includes all features of the Trial Version of the Essential XML Editor. These are the instructions and sources for the latest Open XML Editor version 1.6.2.

To compile the Open XML Editor yourself on a Delphi 2010™ system install the packages below in the specified order. Make sure that all relevant directories are in the Delphi library path. Compiling with other Delphi versions might also work, but has not been tested.

Package name License Download
Virtual Treeview 4.8.6 MPL 1.1 or LGPL 2.1 (or later) Available at http://www.soft-gems.net/
Unicode SynEdit, version: September 28, 2009 MPL 1.1 or GPL 2 (or later) UniSynEdit-2009-09-28.zip (1 MByte)
Use the Delphi 2009 package for installation.
Unicode SynEdit Patch MPL 1.1 or GPL 2 (or later) UnicodeSynEditPatch.zip (9 KByte)
Use contents to replace files from Unicode SynEdit.
Virtual Shell Tree 1.1.1 MPL 1.1 or LGPL 2.1 (or later) Available at http://www.philo.de/xml/
Dynamic Controls v.1.0.0. MPL 1.1 or GPL 2.0
Open XML Utility Library 3.0.1 (or above)
Alternative Document Object Model 5.1.4. The add-ons included in this distribution must also be installed.
Essential XML Editor 1.6.2 Open Source Edition sources MPL 1.1 or GPL 2.0 oxedit-1.6.src.zip (94 KByte)
Contact Information

PD Dr. Dieter Köhler
Dünenweg 15
69207 Sandhausen
GERMANY
Email: ed.olihp@k.d
Profile: http://www.dieter-koehler.eu