Overview
Introduction
Sometimes you need to know not just whether a tag exists in a document, but how many times, and where among other similarly-named tags. This tool searches live as you type.
It's a fast way to confirm a tag's presence, or its frequency, without scanning raw XML by eye.
What Is XML Key Finder?
A live search over every element tag name in a parsed XML document, matching substrings case-insensitively.
It includes every occurrence, not just the first, so repeated tags aren't deduplicated.
How XML Key Finder Works
The document is parsed and walked once, collecting every element's tag name in document order (with repeats).
The list is then filtered against your search text on every keystroke.
When To Use XML Key Finder
Use it to check how many times a given tag appears in a document, not just whether it exists.
It's also useful for exploring an unfamiliar document's tag vocabulary interactively.
Often used alongside XML Key Extractor, XML Value Finder and XML Key Replacer.
Features
Advantages
- Live, query-driven search.
- Shows every occurrence, so frequency is visible, not just presence.
- Runs entirely client-side.
Limitations
- Searches tag names only, not attribute names or values, use Find XML Values for content.
- Matching is substring-only, there's no regular expression or exact-match mode.
Examples
Best Practices & Notes
Best Practices
- Clear the search box to see every tag name in the document at once, useful for a quick vocabulary overview.
- Count the results rather than eyeballing them for an exact occurrence total.
- Use a short, distinctive substring first, then narrow it if you get too many matches.
Developer Notes
Matching happens against an already-collected flat list of tag names (built once per input change via `useMemo`), so re-filtering on every keystroke stays cheap.
XML Key Finder Use Cases
- Checking how many times a tag appears in a document
- Exploring an unfamiliar document's tag vocabulary
- Confirming a specific tag name is spelled the way you expect before writing a parser
Common Mistakes
- Expecting deduplication, use Extract All XML Keys if you want each tag name listed only once.
- Assuming zero results means the tag doesn't exist anywhere, double-check for a typo in the search term first.
Tips
- Leave the search empty to see every tag name in document order.
- Check the FAQ above if the output doesn't look like what you expected.