ProductsXMLSpySchema ToolsDTD Editor

DTDs and XML Schemas are important aspects of XML that define the logical structure (or content model) of an XML document. XMLSpy® 2012 includes a powerful DTD editor that integrates DTD creation with the editing of XML instance documents.

Supported Schemas

XMLSpy® 2012 supports both editing and schema validation of Document Type Definitions (DTDs) and W3C XML Schemas (XSD) and can validate an XML instance document against either schema type.

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Create DTD from XML

When you are defining a new schema or DTD, it is often helpful to create a few example XML documents as a starting point. XMLSpy® 2012 allows you to generate a new schema from this document (or from a set of documents in the project window) as a first step.

XMLSpy® 2012 automatically detects the data-types (such as date, time, number, URI, etc.) being used in your XML documents and creates the corresponding restrictions in the DTD.

XMLSpy® 2012 will also optionally detect typical enumeration scenarios, in which an element or attribute can only contain items from a predefined list of values.

DTD Editing and Validation

XMLSpy® 2012 allows efficient editing of any schema type or DTD through its enhanced grid view, which is ideally suited for showing the structure of the content model. This lets you actually edit DTDs directly within the hierarchical representation.

Below is a snippet from a DTD in the XMLSpy® 2012 DTD editor. Please note the easily recognizable tree structure that can be edited just like the hierarchical element structure of any regular XML document. In addition, attribute lists are shown using a database/table view representation, which is ideally suited for this structure.

XMLSpy® 2012 is the only product that uses the same editing paradigm for editing XML instance documents and editing DTDs or XML Schemas. This drastically reduces the learning curve, resulting in a lower total cost of ownership (TCO).

In addition, XMLSpy® 2012 includes graphical XML Schema editor for creating and editing XML Schemas that conform to the W3C XML Schema Definition Language.

Since XML Schemas are actually based on XML documents as their representation format, intelligent editing features (such as entry helpers) are available throughout the schema editing process.

When it comes to validation, it's important to note the difference between validating a DTD or schema (i.e., checking the schema or DTD for compliance with the corresponding rules for creating such a schema or DTD as set forth in their respective standards) and validating an XML instance document against its governing schema or DTD.

Of course, XMLSpy® 2012 allows you to do both!

DTD / XML Schema Conversion

In today's world of ever-changing schema versions, it's important to have a tool that easily converts your content model between the various schema dialects.

You can simply open an existing DTD in the DTD editor and use the "Convert schema..." command to convert your DTD into a W3C XML Schema compliant with the final May 2001 Recommendation - or the other way round.

Go to Definition

One of the main advantages of using a DTD editor like XMLSpy® 2012 is the integration of DTD editing and XML document instance creation.

This means that, at any time, you can easily locate the definition of each element or attribute using the "Go to definition" command, which immediately takes you to the defining item in the DTD associated with the XML document.

Assign Schema / DTD

To ease the integration of XML instance documents and corresponding schemas or DTDs, XMLSpy® 2012 includes a command that lets you easily assign a DTD or schema to your document.

The DTD editor asks you to pick an existing DTD or schema (from your disk, from any open file, or from the project view) and automatically creates the correct XML elements and attributes that are required in your instance document to bind it to the DTD or schema. These differ between the various schema types supported, but XMLSpy® 2012 always knows exactly what is required depending of the kind of schema you selected.

Discover the power of XMLSpy® 2012 for DTD and schema editing - Download a free 30-day trial of XMLSpy.