XML Document Overview

The Outline view displays a general tag overview of the current edited XML Document. It also shows the correct hierarchical dependencies between the tag elements. That makes easier for the user to be aware of the document structure and the way tags are nested. It allows fast navigation of the document by displaying the start of the content of the child elements in the node of the parent element thus allowing to see quickly the content of an element without expanding it in the Outline tree. It also allows the user to insert or delete nodes using pop-up menu actions.

The Expand all and Collapse all items of the popup menu available on the Outline tree enlarge or reduce the set of nodes of the edited document currently visible in the view. The tree expansion action is a faster alternative to mouse clicks on the plus signs of the tree when one wants to access quickly a node deeply nested in the hierarchy of document nodes. When a large number of nodes become expanded and the document structure is not clear any more, the collapsing action clears the view quickly by reducing the depth of the expanded nodes to only one child of the currently selected node.

Document errors (such as an element inserted in an invalid position, or a wrong attribute name, or a missing required attribute value) are highlighted in the Outline tree. An easy-to-spot exclamation mark sign is used as element icon, a red underline decorates the element name and value and a tooltip provides more information about the nature of the error.