XML Formatter & Viewer

📄 What is XML?

XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is a versatile markup language designed for storing and transporting structured data. Unlike HTML, which focuses on displaying information, XML is all about describing and organizing data in a way that's both human-readable and machine-parsable.

Originally developed in the late 1990s, XML has become a foundational technology for data exchange across countless industries, from web services and configuration files to document formats and database exports.

⚙️ How This XML Formatter & Viewer Works

This tool transforms raw XML into beautifully formatted, easy-to-read documents. Whether you're debugging a SOAP response, editing configuration files, or analyzing data exports, this formatter helps you understand XML structure instantly.

🔥 Key Features:

Smart Formatting: Automatically indents nested elements with customizable spacing (2, 3, 4 spaces, or tabs)
Interactive Tree View: Navigate complex XML structures with expandable/collapsible nodes
Real-time Validation: Instantly detects malformed XML with helpful error messages and position indicators
Minification: Compress XML by removing unnecessary whitespace for efficient transmission
Node Search: Quickly find elements, attributes, or text content within large documents
Attribute Sorting: Optionally sort attributes alphabetically for consistency
Comment Handling: Choose to preserve or remove XML comments
CDATA Support: Properly handles CDATA sections without corruption
One-Click Copy: Click the output area to instantly copy formatted XML
Persistent Settings: Your preferences are saved locally for a consistent experience

📊 Input/Output Examples:

Unformatted Input:

<catalog><book id="1"><title>XML Essentials</title><author>Jane Doe</author></book></catalog>

Formatted Output (2 spaces):

<catalog>
  <book id="1">
    <title>XML Essentials</title>
    <author>Jane Doe</author>
  </book>
</catalog>

🌳 Tree View Feature

The Tree View provides an interactive, hierarchical visualization of your XML document. This powerful feature makes it easy to understand complex structures and quickly navigate to specific elements.

🎯 Tree View Capabilities:

Expand/Collapse: Click any element to show or hide its children
Visual Indicators: Different icons for elements, text, comments, and CDATA sections
Child Count: See how many children each element contains at a glance
Attribute Display: All attributes are shown inline with color coding
Search Highlighting: Matching nodes are highlighted when searching
Path Tracking: Understand the exact location of each element in the document hierarchy

Tree View Legend:

▶/▼ - Expandable element (click to toggle)
○ - Empty element (self-closing)
📄 - Text content
💬 - Comment
📦 - CDATA section

💼 Common Use Cases

1. 🌐 SOAP API Development

SOAP web services communicate using XML messages. This formatter helps you:

Debug request/response payloads from web services
Validate SOAP envelopes before sending
Understand complex nested data structures
Compare expected vs actual responses

2. ⚙️ Configuration File Management

Many applications use XML for configuration. Use this tool to:

Format messy config files for readability
Validate XML syntax before deployment
Find specific settings using tree view search
Minify configs for production use

3. 📊 Data Export Analysis

When working with XML data exports:

Quickly understand export structure
Locate specific data points
Validate data integrity
Prepare data for transformation

4. 🔧 Legacy System Integration

Many enterprise systems still rely on XML:

Debug integration issues
Understand legacy data formats
Prepare migration mappings
Document XML schemas

📚 XML Fundamentals

Basic XML Structure

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<root>
  <element attribute="value">
    Text content
  </element>
  <empty-element />
  <!-- This is a comment -->
  <![CDATA[Special <characters> allowed here]]>
</root>

XML Rules:

Well-formed: Every opening tag must have a closing tag
Case-sensitive: <Element> and <element> are different
Single Root: Documents must have exactly one root element
Proper Nesting: Elements must be properly nested
Quoted Attributes: Attribute values must be quoted

Special Characters:

Character	Entity	Description
<	<	Less than
>	>	Greater than
&	&	Ampersand
"	"	Quote
'	'	Apostrophe

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What's the difference between Format and Minify?

A: Format (Pretty Print) adds proper indentation and line breaks for readability. Minify removes all unnecessary whitespace to reduce file size for transmission or storage.

Q: Can this tool validate XML against a schema (XSD)?

A: Currently, this tool validates well-formedness (correct syntax) but not schema validation. It will detect syntax errors like unclosed tags, improper nesting, and invalid characters.

Q: Is my data safe?

A: Absolutely! All processing happens locally in your browser. Your XML data is never sent to any server.

Q: Can I use this offline?

A: Yes! Once the page is loaded, all functionality works offline since processing is done entirely in your browser using WebAssembly.

Q: What does 'Sort Attributes' do?

A: When enabled, attributes within each element are sorted alphabetically. This is useful for comparing XML documents or maintaining consistent formatting.

Q: How do I handle namespaces?

A: Namespaces are fully supported. They're displayed as regular attributes (xmlns:prefix) and prefixed elements are shown correctly in both formatted and tree views.

🎯 Pro Tips

Large Documents: Use Tree View with search to quickly navigate to specific elements instead of scrolling
Debugging: Error messages include position information - look for the indicated line/column in your input
Comparison: Enable 'Sort Attributes' when comparing XML documents to normalize attribute order
Clean Output: Use 'Remove Comments' to get production-ready XML without documentation comments
Keyboard Workflow: Paste XML, click Format, then click output area to copy - all in seconds

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View Settings

View Mode:

Format Options

Indentation:

Sort Attributes:

Remove Comments:

Input XML

Formatted Output

Quick Reference:

<element> - Opening tag</element> - Closing tag<empty /> - Self-closing tagattr="value" - Attribute - Comment<![CDATA[...]]> - CDATA section<?xml ...?> - XML declaration< > & - Entities