Validate XML

[Michael Bulgrien]

Another wishlist item idea...

XML files can be saved with any file extension: .xml; .config; .txt; etc.

I have need to validate XML formatting on a regular basis and work with a lot of XML files that are not named with an .xml file extension. When the user has a file open and has applied the XML file format rules against it (regardless of what the file is named) it would be nice if there were an easy way to check if the file contains well-formed XML (i.e. a "Validate XML" option under the "File" menu).

[Aaron]

Thanks, Michael. I'll add detecting xml files with different extensions to our Customer Wishlist.

[Michael Bulgrien]

I don't need BC3 to automatically detect if a file contains XML.
I need to be able to manually select an option to check if the XML is well-formed, or malformed.

[chrroe]

Hi,

what about including XML Copy Editor in the "Open with..." menu?

Bye
Christoph

[Michael Bulgrien]

I have recently joined the ranks of employees who now work for a global company that does not allow any unauthorized software to be installed in their environments, be it end-user laptops, development servers, or otherwise. Thus, I am not free to use XML Copy Editor or any other of the myriad of other great utilities available for free under the GNU GPL license.

[Aaron]

Hello Michael,

If the option is manual, couldn't you select one of our file formats that performs this as an external conversion? Our XML Tidied rule requires well formed XML for example, and will present an error if it is not.

[Michael Bulgrien]

The thought had crossed my mind. I was hoping for a more graceful solution that doesn't require one to reformat the XML (by sorting or tidying it) and, if possible, specifies the line number at which the XML is determined to be malformed (like IE does when you open a malformed XML file in the browser).

[Chris]

Michael,

Thank you for clarifying the suggestion. I will add an XML validation command to our wish list for a future version of BC.

[Aaron]

Hello Michael,

One other solution is for files that do end in .xml, you can use the Preview In Browser button to view if the xml has any errors.

Unfortunately, IE does not support non .xml files to be read as .xml, so it will not work for your .txt files.