What does it do?
It formats XML with consistent indentation, minifies it to a single line and validates that it is well formed. When the document is broken, the error says what is wrong and on which line and column: a tag that is not closed, an attribute without quotes, a stray &.
Typical uses
- Reading a SOAP request or response copied from a log.
- Checking an SVG, RSS feed, sitemap or Maven
pom.xml before deploying it.
- Compacting XML to embed it in a string or a test fixture.
Example
<order><id>42</id><items><item sku="A1"/></items></order> becomes
<order>
<id>42</id>
<items>
<item sku="A1"/>
</items>
</order>
Frequently asked questions
›Does it validate against an XSD or DTD?
No. It checks that the XML is well formed (tags closed and nested correctly, quoted attributes, a single root, valid entities), which is the error you hit most often. Schema validation is not performed.
›Are comments and CDATA kept?
Yes. Comments, CDATA sections, the XML declaration and processing instructions are kept when formatting and minifying.
›Is my XML sent anywhere?
No. Parsing and formatting run in your browser, so SOAP messages with credentials or customer data stay on your machine.