PLEASE NOTE: All CMIT modules have now been withdrawn,
and are unavailable for the 2010/11 academic year
These web pages and lecture notes are left as reference for those students
requiring CMIT modules to complete their programme only, and are not an
indication of modules currently offered.
MIT3112/3212
XML Software Tools
Browsers
- MS Internet Explorer
- IE6 onwards have XML and XSLT capabilities built in, though earlier versions may need the MSXML tools to be installed.CSS support is poor, though latest versions have a much improved rendering engine.
- Mozilla FireFox, IceWeasel/IceCat
- Also XML/XSL aware, and have added support for alternate stylesheets, better CSS 2.0 stylesheet display, and are generally more standards-compliant than the Microsoft browser. They're based on the Gecko rendering engine. The IceWeasel and IceCat versions are stripped of any proprietary code and branding. Available from http://www.mozilla.org/.
- Safari
- Originally a Mac-based browser, Apple's Safari is also available for PCs. It uses the WebCore engine, which is a fork of the WebKit layout engine originally developed by the KDE team.
- Opera
- Another strongly standards-compliant browser, with some innovative features, Opera uses its own rendering engine (Presto) so can be a useful check against other browsers.
- Chrome
- A new contender in the browser wars, Google's Chrome has already gained a significant market share. Chrome is based on the WebKit rendering engine.
Editors
- <oXygen/>
- Full-featured XML editor with more options than you're ever likely to need. Handles all types of Schema and DTDs, performs transformations with XSLT and XSL-FO, and even knows about DocBook and TEI. Runs on PC, Macintosh, Linux, and anything else with Java capabilities. There's a free trial, but the software only costs around £27 for an educational license. However, if you're taking the module, don't buy the license, as we are entitled to give everyone on the module a free license. See their website for more details: http://www.oxygenxml.com/ . Highly recommended - available in Queen's, in the LaTiS computer suite (Rm M).
- Cooktop
- A simple but excellent editor that validates XML and can apply XSL stylesheets to generate HTML or other output. And it's free! Recommended!
- http://xmlcooktop.com/
Parsers and processors
- Microsoft XML Core Services (MSXML)
- Add-in to update older MS Internet Explorer browsers, which can be installed from here.
- libxml/libxslt and xsltproc
- Library and command-line XSLT processor. Not for beginners, but can be used in batch files/scripts for automated processing. Now included in the cygwin GNU port for Windows.
- http://xmlsoft.org/XSLT/
Large-scale Commercial Software
These are the industry-standard editors that are used in the publishing business. Note that I haven't tested many of these, and they cost real money (usually in large amounts), though many have free trial downloads.
- Altova XML-Spy
- Widely-used development environment for XML. Feature-limited 'Home Edition' available free, but the full-featured 'Professional Edition' costs around £400.
- XMetal
- Originally called Author/Editor, this product has been around since the dawn of SGML, and has been produced by several companies over the years. Now developed by JustSystems, it has evolved into an XML-builder for programmers and developers. Cost: around £500.00
- XStudio
- Primarily know for its visual stylesheet creator, but also a reasonable general XML editor. Free 30-day trial, full license around $60.
Other XML editors are listed on Wikipedia.