How is this different from the XML Prettifier?

The Prettifier is a two-pane converter: you paste raw XML on one side and get a separately formatted copy on the other, with a download button for the result. The Editor is a single-pane workspace where you edit the document directly, in place, with live validity feedback and an optional Format button that reformats your own text rather than producing a second copy.

What does the live status banner tell me?

While your document is well-formed, it shows a green confirmation along with element count, attribute count, nesting depth, and byte size, the same stats the XML Validator reports. The moment the document becomes invalid (mid-edit, for instance), it switches to an error banner with the exact line and column of the problem.

What does the Format button do?

It reindents your current document in place, replacing the editor's content with a consistently formatted version, the same reformatting the XML Prettifier performs, but applied directly to what you're editing instead of producing separate output. It's disabled whenever the document isn't currently well-formed, since there's nothing valid to reformat.

Is there a structure or tree view like the JSON Editor has?

Not currently. This editor focuses on live validity feedback and in-place formatting for a single XML document; a visual tree view for XML may be added later as a separate enhancement.

Does this tool send my XML to a server?

No. Both the live validity check and the formatting run entirely client-side using this category's shared parser, nothing you type is uploaded.

XML Editor - Edit and View XML Online

Overview

Introduction

Most of this category's tools are converters: XML goes in one side, something else comes out the other. This one is different, it's a workspace for editing an XML document directly, with immediate feedback on whether what you've typed is still well-formed.

It's built for the moment you're actively hand-editing a config file, a test fixture, or a small XML snippet and want to know the instant a typo breaks the structure, rather than finding out later from a downstream error.

What Is XML Editor?

A single-pane XML editor: one large text area holds your document, and a status banner beneath it reflects that document's current well-formedness live, updating on every keystroke.

It's not a converter or a tree-view browser, it's the closest thing in this category to a plain text editor purpose-built for XML, with validity feedback and one-click reformatting built in.

How XML Editor Works

Every change to the editor's content re-runs the same well-formedness check used by the XML Validator, so the status banner and structural stats (element count, attribute count, depth, byte size) always reflect exactly what's currently in the editor.

The Format button calls the same reindenting logic behind the XML Prettifier, but instead of writing the result to a second output panel, it replaces the editor's own content with the formatted version, only enabled while the document is currently well-formed.

When To Use XML Editor

Use it while actively hand-editing a small XML document, config, fixture, snippet, and you want instant feedback the moment an edit breaks well-formedness.

It's also useful as a quick scratch space to reformat a document you're editing without switching to a two-pane converter and copying the result back.

Often used alongside XML Prettifier, XML Validator and XML Syntax Highlighter.

Features

Advantages

Runs entirely client-side, so documents with real configuration or customer data never leave your browser.
Live feedback means you find a broken edit immediately, not after saving or running it elsewhere.
One-click formatting reindents your actual document in place, no copying between panels.
Reports the exact line and column of an error the moment the document becomes invalid.

Limitations

No tree or structure view, this editor is single-pane and text-based only.
Checks well-formedness only, not conformance to an XSD or DTD schema.
The Format button is disabled whenever the document is currently invalid, since there's nothing well-formed to reformat.

Examples

A well-formed document shows a live confirmation

Input

<user id="1"><name>Ada</name></user>

Output

Well-formed XML: 1 element, 1 attribute, depth 1

The status banner updates immediately to reflect the current, valid content.

An edit that breaks well-formedness is flagged instantly

Invalid input

<root><item>value</root>

Parser error

Unclosed tag <item> at line 1, column 26

As soon as a closing tag goes missing, the banner switches to an error with the exact position.

Corrected version

<root><item>value</item></root>

Formatting a minified document in place

Input

<a><b>1</b><c>2</c></a>

Output

<a>
  <b>1</b>
  <c>2</c>
</a>

Clicking Format reindents the editor's own content, rather than producing a separate copy.

Best Practices & Notes

Best Practices

Watch the status banner while editing rather than checking well-formedness only after you're done.
Use Format once a document validates to make its structure easier to review before continuing to edit.
Switch to the two-pane XML Prettifier instead if you want to keep your original input untouched alongside a formatted copy.

Developer Notes

This component reuses `validateXml` and `formatXml` (both from this category's `lib/`) directly against the editor's own state, with no intermediate output panel: `formatXml(input).output` is written back via the same `setInput` the textarea uses, in the same spirit as the JSON category's JSON Editor but without a tree-view component, since none exists for XML yet.

XML Editor Use Cases

Hand-editing a small XML config file or test fixture with live validity feedback
Quickly reformatting an XML snippet without leaving it in a separate output panel
Iterating on an XML document's structure and catching a broken edit immediately
Reviewing a document's structural stats (element count, depth) as you shape it

Common Mistakes

Expecting a tree or structure view, this editor is text-based only; use the XML to JSON Converter to inspect structure differently.
Assuming Format works on invalid documents, it's disabled until the document is well-formed again.
Treating well-formedness confirmation as schema validation, this only checks XML's own syntax rules.

Tips

Use the reported line and column to jump straight to the offending character after a broken edit.
Click Format right after pasting a minified document to make it easier to keep editing.
Watch the element and attribute counts to sanity-check a document as you build it up by hand.

XML Editor