XSL based WYSIWYG editor

[Zheng Min <zmin_1998@yahoo.com>]

I posted the following note a while ago and received a bunch of positive
responses. Most of them want to have more details. Some requested for demo
version or snapshots. I just quickly put together a few web pages with some
snapshots. For those who are interested, you can take a look at
http://www.geocities.com/zmin_1998/home.html. For those expecting running
demo version, you may have to wait for a bit longer.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Cheers,
Min

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I have been developing some XML editing tools that support XML, XSL and
DTD/Schema editing. In addition to normal editing features, there are some
features (some of them are quite unique) worth noting:

. XSL based WYSIWYG editing:
There are editors supporting WYSIWYG editing, such as XMetal. However, they
are using CSS that doesn't involve transformation. XSL based WYSIWYG
editing, however, needs to translate changes on a transformed document (e.g.
HTML) into changes in the original XML document. In my editing tools, this
is done by using my patent pending technology that establishes mappings
between original and transformed documents.

. Error-proof editing in all the editors (i.e. XML editor, XSL editor and
Schema editors)
No editing actions that may spoil the wellformness or validality of an XML
document are allowed. Any editing actions will always generate valid
results. This is true in all the views, including source view. If the XML
document has an DTD or Schema, the editor will control the editing to follow
the structure of DTD/Schema. This changes the paradigm of XML editing from
editing and validating to editing, editing and editing.

. Interlinked multiple views
The primary UI of XML editor is a side by side structure (tree) and document
(WYSIWYG or Source) views, plus several tool windows. All these views are
interlinked, that is, any actions in one view are automatically reflected in
other windows.

. Content-sensitive element/attribute listing and auto-completion
When inserting an element, a pull-down list shows only the valid elements at
the point of insertion (not like some editors that show all the elements
available in the document). Once an element is selected, the editor
automatically creates the element and any sub-elements required by its
DTD/Schema. This feature is available for both wellformed and validated
document editing.

. Direct Database editing
Query database as XML, edit in the editor and then update

. User friendly XSL editing with WYSIWYG XSL template editing and two way
mappings between XSL source and output results (source with tags or
preview). Users can easily see what in a template generate what output and
what output is generated by what in which template.

. Structure based and rule based XML Schema (also supporting other formats)
editor that allows a user to define schemas without knowing the syntax of
the schemas.

. Many more features such as: multiple views, undo/redo, import/export,
schema generation from XML, changing XSL while editing,


I have finished the major parts of these tools and most features are already
in place. However, due to finacial contrains, I have to go out to find some
extra funds in order to have the final push. If anyones or organizations are
interested in funding such a product, please contact me. I'm willing to
consider all kind of proposals, including transfering ownership.


Min



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