Top XML Applications and Tools in 2023

The acronym XML stands for Extensible Markup Language. It is a text-based markup language derived from SGM (SGML).

 

Unlike HTML tags, which specify how to display the data, XML tags identify the data and are used to store and organize it rather than specifying how to display it. XML will not replace HTML in the near future, but it will introduce new possibilities by incorporating many successful HTML features.

 

What is XML?

 

Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language that allows you to define any data using rules. Unlike other programming languages, XML cannot carry out computations on its own. Instead, any programming language or software can be used to manage structured data.

 

Consider a text document that has comments on it. The following suggestions may be made in the comments:

 

• Make the title bold

• This sentence serves as a heading.

• This is the author's word.

 

Such comments improve the usability of the document without changing its content. Similarly, markup symbols are used in XML to provide more information about any data. This information is used by other software, such as browsers and data processing applications, to process structured data more efficiently.

 

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) developed XML as a markup language to define a syntax for encoding documents that both humans and machines can read. This is accomplished through the use of tags, which define the structure of the document as well as how it should be stored and transported.

 

It's probably easiest to compare it to another markup language you're probably familiar with: HTML, which is used to encode web pages. HTML employs a predefined set of markup symbols (shortcodes) to describe the format of web page content.

 

Though XML syntax is designed to be simple, XML development and data integration encompass many tasks, from the most basic to the most complex. To create world-class applications, developers require graphical editing, conversion, and reporting tools. XML development must coexist with other prevalent technologies such as relational databases, JSON, Avro, and others. Not all XML development tools are capable of meeting this challenge.

 

Altova MissionKit XML tools offer text-based and graphical views for all XML development tasks, such as intelligent XML editing, XML mapping, XML report creation, XML diff/merge, and more. These powerful features have contributed to Altova tools being the best-selling XML development products in the industry.

 

What is a Markup Language?

 

The text you're reading right now is made up of more than just text characters. A group of characters is formatted when they are in bold, italics, or underlined. Under the hood (in a way you can’t see while reading this), these characters are wrapped in tags to make them appear that way. The same is true for the text that is smaller, a different color, or written in a different font. To accomplish this, the author must write the text in a format known as a markup language.

 

A Markup language is a tag-based system for formatting and arranging elements in a document. These tags, unlike physical annotations and markups on paper documents, appear in the document only while the author is writing the text. When an application processes the markup, the content appears to the viewer as formatted text. In the markup language HTML, for example, we can wrap the phrase "Hello world!" in bold tags.

 

<b>

Hello there, world!

</b>

 

When this text is processed by an HTML viewer, such as a web browser, it will look like this:

 

Hello there, world!

 

A markup language is a standard text-encoding system that consists of a set of symbols inserted into a text document to control its structure, formatting, or the relationship between its parts. SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language), HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), and XML are the most widely used markup languages (Extensible Markup Language). 

 

A device (computer, printer, browser, etc.) can interpret markup symbols to control how a document should look when printed or displayed on a monitor. A marked-up document thus contains two types of text: displayed text and markup language describing how to display it.

 

Also Read | Top 10 Online Business Valuation Tools - Flippa, CalcXML, and Others

 

What are the Applications of XML Tools?

 

Extensible Markup Language (XML) is the underlying technology in thousands of applications, from simple productivity tools like word processing to book publishing software and even complex application configuration systems.

 

1. Data transmission:

 

Data can be transferred using XML between two systems that store the same data in different formats. Your website, for example, stores dates in MM/DD/YYYY format, whereas your accounting system stores dates in DD/MM/YYYY format. Using XML, you can transfer data from the website to the accounting system. Your developers can create code that converts the following automatically:

 

• XML conversion of website data
• Data conversion from XML to accounting system data
• Returning accounting system data to XML format
• Returning XML data to website data

 

 

2. Web-based applications:

 

The data on web pages are structured thanks to XML. Other website technologies, such as HTML, collaborate with XML to provide visitors with consistent and relevant data. Consider an e-commerce website that sells clothing. Instead of showing all clothes to all visitors, the website uses XML to create customized web pages based on user preferences. It shows products from specific brands by filtering the <brand> tag.

 

3. Documentation:

 

Any technical document's structural information can be specified using XML. Other programs then process the document structure in order to present it in a flexible manner. A paragraph, an item in a numbered list, and a heading, for example, all have XML tags. Other types of software use these tags to automatically prepare the document for uses such as printing and web publishing.

 

4. Data type:

 

As a data type, XML is supported by a wide range of programming languages. You can easily write programs in other languages that work directly with XML files with this support.

 

Top XML Tools:

 

XML authoring is a new and improved version of technical communication that is far superior to desktop publishing. For starters, it operates on the WYOO (What You See Is One Option) model, which means that the content is displayed with some formatting but is not the final document. 

 

A separate procedure must be followed in order to view the same. Furthermore, unlike desktop publishing, XML authoring requires template compliance. The authoring tool enforces templates, and authors are expected to adhere to the software's structure standards.

 

Some of the top XML Tools are:

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Top XML Tools

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1.  Oxygen:

 

Oxygen XML Editor is without a doubt one of the best XML authoring tools available. The tool supports multiple platforms for XML editing and is regarded as an advanced solution for technical authoring and development by developers. The Oxygen XML Editor promises an advanced set of editing tools as well as a slew of other useful features.

 

It includes tools like Web Help, XML Author, XML Editor, XML Web Author, and XML Developer. The Oxygen XML Editor simplifies all technical communication projects, from simple authoring to development and editing. All of the tools are available in a single suite.

 

2. Notepad++:

 

Notepad++ is a free text editor that includes an XML editor plugin. This software's Color Coding feature is used to distinguish between the code and the content of an XML file. Notepad++ can also be launched very easily using the Command Line Arguments. This software, like any other good text editor, allows you to easily highlight, copy, and paste text within your XML file. It also allows you to work on multiple XML files at the same time.

 

This software has a completely customizable and very user-friendly interface. You can improve the readability of your XML files by including the Line Number at the beginning of each line. Notepad++ also allows you to create Macros, which are collections of bulk actions that can be applied to multiple XML files at once. 

 

This software's XML Syntax Check feature allows you to analyze and correct the syntax of your XML files. This software has a layout known as the Pretty Print layout, which makes your XML file appear in a proper structure, making it appear more organized.

 

3. Kate:

 

Kate is a powerful editor with a plethora of XML plugins. The XML validation plugin typically checks the XML document for errors and warnings, which are displayed in Kate's window. Furthermore, another plugin called? XML Completion? checks and verifies whether the XML document adheres to the DTD of the file. XML completion is based on libxml, which is invoked by xmllint.

 

Kate's source code editor launches, displaying its various plugins, debug window, and file explorer. It also allows you to perform development tasks, view HTML sources, and edit configuration files. It gives users control over their UI layouts, ensuring that each customer experience is self-optimized. Unlike most editors, who have either a simple, uncomplicated design or a cluttered one with too many features, Kate strikes a balance by placing the essential features near the top and the advanced features further down.

 

4. Code Browser:

 

Code Browser is a free XML editor that works on both Windows and Linux. It is a simple XML editor that allows you to edit multiple XML files at the same time. This software's Code Folding feature allows you to hide multiple lines of code under one main headline to keep your screen from becoming overloaded. 

 

There is also a Built-in Links feature that allows you to create links within XML files that point to another section of the same file. This improves the usability of your XML files.

 

If you want to group certain XML files based on their content or any other criteria, you can easily use Code Browser's Project Support feature to keep all of your desired files in a single folder. The best thing about this XML editor is that it supports Custom Tools, which allow you to perform custom actions such as launching another application via Code Browser. This feature makes the software extremely useful.

 

5. Adobe FrameMaker:

 

By far the most well-known and excellent XML authoring tool for technical communication is Adobe FrameMaker. Its user-friendly structured views reveal XML nodes and attributes, making it suitable even for beginners. It includes a WYSIWYG editor for XML design as well as significant shortcuts for navigating between DITA.

 

It is simple to embed markdown, YouTube videos, CSS3, and other media files in Adobe FrameMaker. Furthermore, one of its best features is that it can be used as a PDF editor. It converts content from XML to DITA and can generate PDFs. It assists users in creating multilingual content and has advanced DITA capabilities. FrameMaker supports the publication of content in EPUB, PDF, Mobile App, and responsive HTML5. It has a large user base and offers online support. 

 

Conclusion:

 

To summarize XML or Extensible Markup Language is a language used to define the rules for the format in which documents are encoded. That format is understandable by both humans and machines. 

 

However, the XML files appear to be overly complex, leading people to believe that once created, such files cannot be easily edited or modified. But this is simply not the case. XML files, like any other type of file, can be easily edited.