Re: XML Tree View: Guidelines and ideas

Ben,

These are really good ideas.  I've added a link to this posting to the 
issue so they doesn't get lost.

david


Hutchison, Ben wrote:

> An XML Tree-view is requested in issue: 
> http://xml.netbeans.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=14206
>
> I think this is a big piece of functionality and it should be 
> approached carefully. XML is become so widespread for Java that good 
> XML view/editing will make a big improvement for IDE users, but I 
> think its also easy to design an XML tree view of very limited usefulness.
>
> 1. For me the biggest single reason for wanting a tree view is to get 
> a condensed, data-oriented way to work with XML. I dont want to see or 
> type end-tags, and I want as little on the screen except the data 
> content of the document.
>
> 2. Easy editing is as important as viewing. Common actions, like 
> move-current-focus, add-element, edit element, add-attribute, 
> edit-attribute, move element, need to be simple and intutive for both 
> mouse and (especially) keyboard users.
>
> 3. When using a tree view, care must be taken not to make the tree 
> consume too much screen space. Some XML tree designs use fixed, 
> widely-spaced node-arrangements, indent and line height settings. 
> These can leave large amounts of screen as useless whitespace, and  
> tend to flow off to the right and bottom of the screen for a large 
> document. Example of this problem see screenshots at: 
> http://www.xmlmind.com/xmleditor/detailed_features.html
>
> Some ideas:
> * Display Attributes stacked after an element on same line, rather 
> than under or 1 per line.
> * Use a small indent (ie 2 chars) by default for nesting
> * Allow user defined spacing/fonts, just like setting a text editor 
> font size.
>
> 4. The best XML editor I have yet seen is XMLSpy. May I encourage the 
> developers working on XML support to download an evaluation copy and 
> look at the different ways it presents XML, and innovations like the 
> Table View, for editing a repetitive rectangular schema. They have 
> done alot of smart thinking that we can learn from. Eg 
> :http://www.altova.com/features_views.html#enhanced_grid
>
> 5. By default, a tree view should be fully expanded, which mirrors the 
> way a default text/code view is the whole document.
>
> 6. For easy attribute navigation, creation & editing:
> * Show attributes that are allowed by not defined greyed-out at the 
> end of the row.
> * The user can hop focus between atts using Ctl-Left/Right, including 
> the greyed out one.
> * If they start typing when a greyed out one has focus, the attribute 
> is automatically defined with the entered text as its value.
>
> * For existing attributes, ensure the value is auto-selected when the 
> node gets focus, so its can be replaced simply by typing.
>
> Regards
> Ben
>
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