Background
I need a way to quickly edit XML within my editor of choice, Notepad++.
What to do, but took to Google and see whether Notepad++ supports XML.
And, yes it does:
How to format XML in Notepad
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3961217/how-to-format-xml-in-notepad
Auto Update
In Notepad++, to install or update plugins, I will access the menu option Plugins/Plugin Manager/”Show Plugin Manager”, select the plugin that I want, and click Install.
But, no go.
Here is what happens when I try out PowerShell Lexer.
BTW, “PowerShell Lexer” provides syntax highlighting for Power-Shell.
The problem is a Proxy configuration and authentication issue. And, the problem merits a far more interesting post, that I will save for another day.
For today, we will trod the laborer’s path and update manually.
XML Tools
Download
Where are the PlugIns?
http://sourceforge.net/projects/npp-plugins/files/
Where is the XML Tools PlugIn?
http://sourceforge.net/projects/npp-plugins/files/XML%20Tools/
As of today, the file that we will download will be Xml Tools 2.4.4 Unicode.zip.
Installation
Extract
Let us extract the compressed (zip) file
Embed Files
- Select all the files in the ext_libs folder unto Notepad++ home folder; in our case C:\Program Files (x86)\Notepad++
- Copy xmltools under the main binary file (notepad++)
Review New Folder
Here is what our main line folder looks like:
Plugins
Here is the XMLTools.dll in the plugins folder:
Verify
Re-launched Notepad++ and tried to encode XML.
Here are the options:
Here are some of the options under XML Tools:
- Check XML syntax now
- Validate now
- Convert selection XML to text
- Convert selection text to XML
- Comment selection
- Un-Comment selection
I am probably wrong, but it does not appear any of the options specifically address XML Encoding.
HTML Tools
XML Encode?
Took to Net to see if there is a more specific plugin for XML Encode.
From https://kollegaru.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/notepad-html-tag-plugin-easy-html-encode-decode-functions/, it seems I should try out HTMLTag.
Download
Where is the HTMLTag PlugIn?
http://sourceforge.net/projects/npp-plugins/files/HTMLTag/HTMLTag%20plugin%20v0.50/
Since June 14th, 2012, the HTMLTag Plugin is v.5 and available @ http://sourceforge.net/projects/npp-plugins/files/HTMLTag/HTMLTag%20plugin%20v0.50/
Installation
Extract
Let us extract the compressed (zip) file
Embed Files
- Copy all the folders and files under the Applications’ plug-in folder.
Review New Folder
Here is what our main line folder looks like:
Verify
Again, re-launched Notepad++ and here are the options under Plugins\HTML Tag.
From the screen above, we are able to encode and decode HTML Entities. Note that same applies to XML.
Summary
So it seems both plugins are needed.
The XML Plugin for validating XML, and the HTML Plug-in for encoding and decoding XML/HTML.
