XMLSeed
XMLSeed is an XML tool that specializes in creating XML schemas.
history
Development began in January 2006. The first working version, which was written in C ++ with the help of QT3 , was completed in the 1st quarter of 2006, but was never released. The tool was slowly developed and switched to Java in 2011 . C ++ tends to have the ability to manage one's own language as a major drag on development, so it was decided to switch to Java. The entire graphical user interface (GUI) had to be rebuilt as it could not be converted. The fruits of the switch to Java paid off very quickly, as the entire switch was surprisingly very quick. From this point on, rapid development began, as Java is not only a pleasant language to write, but also has a rich arsenal of libraries ( JDK ). At the beginning of 2012 there was the first publication, which offered a free, but a time-limited license without the effort of registration until March 2013. During this time the tool got more and more functions, the initially spartan handling was improved and a lot of bugs were fixed. The download rate has increased from 8 GB (around 100 licenses per month) to 50 GB (around 600 licenses per month).
Licensing
From March 2013, XMLSeed can be purchased commercially. Please note that there is only an English version. There is also a free license for 30 days, but may no longer be used for commercial purposes and is only available by registration. A license with a one year support period can currently be purchased very cheaply for 49 EUR. The price is extremely low compared to the other tools. Customers can use new features and modules during the support period at no extra charge.
Components, modules
GUI
XMLSeed GUI enables changes in a tree view and in a graph view. In the tree display, you can jump to a referenced node, and in the graph display the children and both the referenced nodes can be expanded. Both representations are synchronized.
XML schema editor
The XML Schema Editor offers a filtered list of possible children. Allows navigation with XML schema internal definitions (type, ref, base, etc.). Elements can be converted globally and locally, nodes with similar semantics can be transformed back and forth (e.g. sequence, all, choice). All functions are not listed here, this list is only intended to give a feeling for editing an XML schema.
XML schema documentation
The tool can create XML schema documentation that is available in an HTML document. A table of contents is shown at the beginning of the document, and the rest of the document describes each component in detail with graphs and tables. Forward and backward links (several parent nodes possible) allow navigation in the documentation.
Code generator
The schema itself can be transformed into C ++ and Java source code . Elements become classes and attributes become class attributes. The executable application created from these classes can serialize and de-serialize XML files that match the schema. Depending on the size of the schema, this module can save several months of source code writing.
Graph viewer
Most XML tools hardly offer a real overview of the schema. XMLSeed has received a graph viewer module for this purpose. The goal of the Graph Viewer is to use various settings / filter options to create a graph that shows a legible overview. Using the graph, even those not involved can gain understanding after a short time.
XML validator
It is not uncommon for XML files to be generated without an XML schema. For example, it can be a de-serialization of the internal settings of a tool or a system. A schema should be generated at the latest after requesting a schema for the XML file. After the XML files have received new elements and attributes, the schema is usually not updated. This is understandable because the schema is indirectly available in the source code. The XML Validator module was designed to update the schema based on the XML files. It can conveniently validate several thousand XML files against a schema. If there is a discrepancy, the scheme can be updated.
XML editor
XMLSeed can not only create XML schemas, it can also create and edit XML documents based on the schemas. So it is possible to create XHTML, XSL etc. documents if their schema is available as a W3C XML schema. The XML editor module can also generate examples for a specific XML schema.