Firstobject's free XML editor for Windows is called foxe. It loads big files (multi-megabyte) fast and lets you format XML and edit HTML and any loosely formed XML or other markup. The tree view is editable and customizable for useful navigation.

  • Performs fast; built on CMarkup
  • Does not require Java or MSXML
  • Light compact design, small footprint
  • Portable software, single exe
  • Other features include syntax coloring, word wrap, Go To Line, show XML path, Microsoft global IME, MSXML based DTD validation.

             

    Download free firstobject XML editor 2.4.2.431 installer (624k) 23-Apr-2011 release notes

    Download 2.4.2 zipped exe only
    Discussion and comments

    High performance text editing and parsing of text files, aligning and indenting XML, print, print preview, e-mail sending, text encoding selection and conversion, Unicode character functions, and C++ code generation to see how to create or navigate your XML with CMarkup.

    free XML editor and RSS

    Foxe supports most encoding names in the XML Declaration encoding or HTML charset, plus UTF-16 BOM and UTF-8 preambles, only assuming the system current locale ANSI charset when it doesn't pass UTF-8 autodetection.

    Programmable XML tool

    Foxe is growing as an XML tool with FOAL scripting for processing documents with CMarkup functions using C++ syntax. It can automatically generate a program for you when you right-click on an element or attribute. In debugging mode you can watch as it extracts information from documents and builds other documents.

    free XML tool and FOAL C++-like scripting

    Unicode features of the free XML editor

    The firstobject XML editor also has some unique Unicode text features. If you want to get any character into your document and you don't know how to type it, just type the Unicode code point number and right-click Convert Char Ref e.g. Euro: € € U+20AC U-20AC or 8364. Use the Char Unicode menu option to display the Unicode code point and range of the character to the right of the cursor or any number of selected characters. e.g.

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="shift_jis"?>
    €中す

    U+20AC (8364, Currency Symbols 20A0 - 20CF) UTF-8 E2 82 AC shift_jis N/A €
    U+4E2D (20013, CJK Unified Ideographs 4E00 - 9FFF) UTF-8 E4 B8 AD shift_jis 92 86 中
    U+3059 (12377, Hiragana 3040 - 309F) UTF-8 E3 81 99 shift_jis 82 B7 す

    XML editor C++ source code

    Advanced CMarkup Developer License

    The full Visual C++ source code for this firstobject XML editor (including the CDataEdit gigabyte edit control MFC component) is available as part of the Advanced CMarkup Developer License. It allows developers to implement custom XML handling functions such as validation, transformation, beautify, and reporting for their own purposes.

    Comments on foxe:

    comment posted icelava writes:

    They are not lying when they claim "high performance"; this program wisely avoids the conventional XML DOM approach...

    comment posted Ooze writes:

    a nifty, free XML editor. Best part is, it handles Unicode flawlessly, at least as far as I've seen. It even handles UTF-8 both with and without BOMs, which is a fairly common failing I've run across in other text and XML editors.

    comment posted Eddie Wrenn, UK

    There has been many times when I've been overwhelmed by the talent and generosity of the freeware coding community, but you've definitely taken the biscuit!

    comment posted Addicus Brown, USA

    I needed to do some copy/paste and editing for a .xml file on my windows mobile phone and found this through the Bing search engine. I love the small footprint and easy to use format.

    comment posted Coe Roberts, USA

    Re: Data Warehousing. I came across your editor (searching google for "xml formatter"), and it's exactly what I've been looking for. I have wanted a simple XML editor that:

  • formats ugly XML
  • colors based on syntax
  • lets me edit the text directly
  • lets me traverse the tree
  • prints with syntax coloring
  • is free
  • You would (might) be amazed at how hard it is to find just that.

    comment posted Andreas Warberg, Denmark

    your editor helped me to quickly gain an insight of the structure of a large xml document.

    Licensing: This editor is free software to use anywhere (including commercially). However, please ask permission before redistributing it outside your institution (e.g. bundling it for customers).