The Outliner pane has the following available functions:
The Outliner displays a general tag overview of the current edited XML Document. It also shows the correct hierarchical dependencies between the tag elements, making it easier for the user to be aware of the document's structure and the way tags are nested.
The two buttons on the toolbar of the outline view control the amount of information displayed for every node in the outline tree:
Table 3.4. Description of Outline Toolbar Buttons
![]() | Toggles the display of the value of the first attribute (if the element has attributes) next to the element name, for every element in the current edited document. |
![]() | Toggles the display of the first 25 characters (but no more than 70 characters) of the element's text content next to the element name, for every element in the current edited document. |
When editing, the Outliner dynamically follows the modifications introduced by the user, showing in the middle of the panel the node which is currently being modified .This gives the user better insight on to where in the document he/she is positioned and how the structure of the document is affected by his/hers modifications.
The Outliner can also be used to search for a specific tag's location and contents in the edited document. Intuitively, by selecting with the left mouse button the desired tag in the Outliner Panel, the document is scrolled to the position of the selected tag. Moreover, the tag's contents are selected in the document, making it easy to notice the part of the document contained by that specific tag and furthermore to easily copy and paste the tag's contents in other parts of the document or in other documents.