Adopting XML: Tomorrow's Web

Editors [1]: Bright new dawn?

Everyone and his dog seems to have written an incomprehensible XML editor:

• University of Edinburgh XED,

  • Not incomprehensible, but little more than a simple text editor with syntax checking.

  • Present distribution is in TCL/Python for Solaris only.

• Microsoft XML Notepad

  • Tree-view style editor.

  • Windows only.

• XML Pro

  • 'Tree-View' style editor similar to Jumbo's tree-view.

  • Windows, Solaris, and Linux; in Java

• CLIP

  • Combines 'Tree-view' with highlighted source text, similar to early versions of HotMetal.

  • Windows and Solaris only.

• Visual XML

  • A great deal of thought has clearly gone into the user interface of this product.

  • Several user interface styles are available.

  • All are completely incomprehensible to me.

  • In Java, so platform independent.

• WebWriter

  • Based on existing SGML editor.

  • More than usually incomprehensible tree view.

  • Windows only.

• Adobe GoLive

  • Contains a typically opaque 'XML editor', based on incomprehensible boxes rather than incomprehensible tress.

  • Available on Macintosh.

It is remarkable that anyone imagines that real work can be done with tools of this quality.

Full text of this presentation | Table of Contents | No Frames Author: Simon Brooke | Copyright © 1998-1999 Weft Technology Ltd Slide 79 of 82