What's new in the Visual Studio 2005 XML Editor?
Visual Studio features a new code editor that includes full XML 1.0 syntax
checking, support for DTD's, and full XSD IntelliSense and validation while you
type. The XML Editor includes the following features:
Editing XML : The XML Editor checks XML 1.0 syntax,
including DTD syntax, and reports errors with red squiggles in the file as well
as lists the errors in the new Error List
window.
Validation : The XML Editor performs
DTD, XSD, or XDR validation while you type. Blue squiggles are used to show any
validation errors. Each error has an associated entry in the error list. You can
easily find the XSD schema to use for validation. The schema can be in your
schema cache directory, in the solution, in the editor window, referenced via
schemaLocation attributes, or inline inside your XML
document.
Auto-completion : Auto-completion of
end tags takes place when you type “>” at the end of a start tag. The editor
also automatically inserts namespace declarations for new namespaces introduced
by IntelliSense editing.
IntelliSense : Provides
help in completing XML elements and attributes based on schemas or DTD's
associated with that document. Supports the full set of IntelliSense commands
including Show Member List, Display Quick Info, and Word
Complete.
Reformat : Automatically reformats the
entire XML document or only what is selected based on optional settings for the
XML Editor.Includes an XML formatter that preserves attribute formatting. New
formatting options are available from Formatting, XML, Text Editor, Options
dialog box.
Smart Indenting : Used to adjust for
the right indentation for the next XML element when you press
ENTER.
Syntax Coloring : XML syntax is colorized
for various elements and attributes in the document. You can change the default
colors using Fonts and Colors, Environment, Options Dialog
Box.
Tool Tips : When the mouse hovers over an
XML element or attribute, a tool tip window appears over the element providing
information from the XSD schema if one is specified.
Document Outlining : Each XML element that
contains child markup content, or multiple lines of text, can be expanded or
collapsed using plus [+] and minus [-] signs.
Create
Schema : This command allows the creation of an XSD schema from an
XML, XDR, or DTD document.
Editing XSL : When
editing XSL, the XML Editor supports all the features available for XML files
but also includes additional features and color-coding for XSL keywords. In
addition, a two pass validation algorithm is applied to ensure better XSD
validation with the XSLT spreadsheet.
View XSL :
This command performs an XSL transformation and opens the output in a separate
document window.
Debug XSL : Allows debugging of
XSL document when editing an XSL style sheet using an associated input document.
The debugger provides a full expression evaluator so you can evaluate XPath
expressions while debugging.