News    

• New XMLmind XML Editor Web Edition version 1.7. See changes.
• When saving “text-centric” XML documents (for example, DocBook 5+ book, article, chapter, topic,etc, but not assembly), XXE no longer adds to the root element declarations of namespace prefixes which are not actually used in the document.
• When converting a DocBook document to another format (e.g. HTML, RTF, PDF), non-standard image formats (e.g. WMF, EMF, PlantUML diagram) are now automatically converted to SVG when the output format supports SVG graphics (almost all output formats) and to PNG otherwise (e.g. the HTML Help output format).
• Made the MathML tool more straightforward to use. Possible actions are now limited to:
  • Clicking on a template replaces the explicit or implicit selection (whether it's a text or node selection) by this template.
  • Ctrl-clicking (Cmd-clicking on the Mac) on a template wraps the explicit or implicit selection (whether it's a text or node selection) in this template.
• Updated several software components (Saxon, Apache Batik, Apache FOP, XMLmind XSL-FO Converter, etc). Several bug fixes.

• XMLmind XSL Utility: added handy "Open containing folder" button to the main window.
• Updated most software components in XMLmind XSL Utility and XMLmind XSL Server, including XMLmind DITA Converter v3.17.2, which has TeX/LaTeX math support and automatic image extraction and conversion capabilities.
• Official support of Java™ 24.

Other changes:

• New "JLaTeXMath image toolkit plug-in" add-on (not installed by default; use menu item "Options|Install Add-ons" to install it). This add-on is used to render TeX/LaTeX math in the styled views and also by "Convert Document" menu items to convert TeX/LaTeX math to PNG, JPEG or SVG.

  For now, only DITA and DocBook documents may embed TeX/LaTeX math or reference “image files” containing TeX/LaTeX math (".tex" files). In order to make this easier, a number of element templates were added to the DITA and DocBook configurations. DITA examples: equation-inline(tex), equation-block(tex), etc. DocBook examples: inlineequation(tex), equation(tex), etc.

• Several minor enhancements. A few bug fixes.
• Updated several software components, including XMLmind DITA Converter v3.17, which supports DITA documents containing TeX/LaTeX math.
• Official support of Java™ 24.

• Now supports TeX/LaTeX math in addition to MathML. Adding TeX/LaTeX math is achieved either by inserting a foreign element having an outputclass attribute containing "embed-latex" or by inserting an image element pointing to an ".tex" file.
• Now supports image converters.

  The ditac-N_N_N-plus-fop.zip distribution now contains, in addition to the most recent version of Apache FOP, a number of image converters based on Batik, JEuclid and JLaTeXMath. These image converters are automatically registered with ditac and thus, ready to be used to convert SVG to PNG, MathML to SVG or PNG, TeX/LaTeX math to SVG or PNG.

• Official support of Java™ 24.

• Desktop application w2x-app: added an "Open containing folder" button which lets the user open the folder containing the output file in the standard file explorer of the operating system.
• Added a -printenv option to command-line tool w2x. This option prints supported environment variables/system properties (e.g. W2X_IMAGE_CONVERSIONS) and then exits.
• Upgraded XMLmind Web Help Compiler to version 3.6, which features several minor enhancements, mostly related to the Index panel.
• Modified the Web Help generator to benefit from the enhancements brought by XMLmind Web Help Compiler v3.6.
• Official support of Java™ 23 and macOS Sequoia (version 15).

• XMLmind XSL-FO Converter engine (Java™ Edition only, SVG and MathML not supported by .NET Edition):
  • DOCX output format: new option docx.keepSVG, which is true by default, instructs the engine to keep both input SVG graphics and their conversions to PNG in the DOCX output file.
  • ODT ouput format: By default, input MathML elements are now converted to SVG rather than PNG.
• Updated most software components in XMLmind XSL Utility and XMLmind XSL Server.
• Official support of Java™ 23 and macOS Sequoia (version 15).

Other changes:

• Added a "Sort files by" menu to the toolbar of the "Browse Files" tool. This menu lets you sort the listed files according to different file properties: name, date, size, etc, in either ascending or descending order.
• The "Ebook Page" configuration has been made closer to the "XHTML 5" configuration in terms of CSS stylesheets and toolbar buttons.
• Better support of attribute rowheader="firstcol" in CALS table (that is, DocBook and DITA tables).
• Updated most software components (XMLmind Word To XML, Saxon, FOP, Batik, etc).
• Several bug fixes.

Other changes:

• Improved the usability of the Validity tool by rendering error messages in a nicer, more readable, way and also by adding two "sort errors" buttons. First button may be used to sort the error list with the most severe errors first. Second button may be used to sort the error list in document order (which was the only error order available in previous versions of XXE).
• Added an auto-update option to the dialog box displayed by "Help|Show Element Reference" menu item. If the corresponding checkbox is checked, this option automatically updates the dialog box to always show the content model of selected element. This checkbox replaces the “manual update” button found in the previous version of the dialog box.
• Updated several software components (XMLmind XSL-FO Converter, Saxon, etc).
• A couple of minor bug fixes.

Other changes:

• DITA Topic, DocBook, XHTML, TEI Lite configurations: added a "Check External References" item to the menu which is specific to the document type (e.g. the Topic menu). All kinds of external resources are checked for existence: images, audio, video, PDF documents, HTML pages, fragments in HTML pages, etc.
• Added "Comment Out" and "Uncomment" menu items to the "Edit|Comment" menu. "Comment Out" replaces text selection or explicit node selection by a comment containing the selection. "Uncomment" is inverse command of "Comment Out".
• A number of bug fixes.
• Official support of Java™ 22.

Other changes:

• Support of new OASIS Standard: "The DocBook Schema Version 5.2". Corresponding reference is "DocBook 5.2: The Definitive Guide" by Norman Walsh.
• New remark editor makes it now possible to reply to a remark made by another user of XXE. See Tools menu, Remark submenu.
• Other minor enhancements and a couple of bug fixes.
• Updated several software components (XMLmind Assembly Processor which now supports processing DocBook 5.2 documents, XMLmind Word To XML, XMLmind XSL-FO Converter, etc).

Other changes:

• Minor enhancements and bug fixes.
• Updated several software components (XMLmind DITA Converter, XMLmind Web Help Compiler, Apache FOP, Apache Batik, etc).
• XMLmind XML Editor officially supported on macOS Sonoma (version 14) and on Java™ 21 platforms.

Other changes:

• Minor enhancements and bug fixes.
• Updated most software components (XMLmind DITA Converter, XMLmind XSL-FO Converter, XMLmind Word To XML, etc).

• Added a add-copiable-links parameter which makes it easy copying links to chapters, sections, tables, figures, etc, in order to share them with others. For example, send by email a link to a chapter found in the generated Web Help.
• Upgraded XMLmind Web Help Compiler to version 3.5, which supports the new corporate layout in addition to the classic and simple layouts.

• Added a proc.copiablelinks parameter which makes it easy copying links to chapters, sections, tables, figures, etc, in order to share them with others. For example, send by email a link to a chapter found in the generated Web Help.
• Upgraded XMLmind Web Help Compiler to version 3.5, which supports the new corporate layout in addition to the classic and simple layouts.

Other changes:

• A few minor enhancements and bug fixes.
• Updated most software components (XMLmind DITA Converter, XMLmind XSL-FO Converter, XMLmind Word To XML, Saxon, etc).
• Official support of Java™ 20.

• XMLmind XSL-FO Converter engine: non-standard extension of XSL-FO property text-decoration. In addition to the decoration type (underline, overline, line-through, etc), it's now possible to specify the color, style (solid, double, dotted, dashed, wavy) and thickness of the text decoration. The syntax used for extended simple properties is identical to the syntax of CSS3 property text-decoration. More information in "Non-standard extension of XSL-FO property text-decoration".
• Updated most software components in XMLmind XSL Utility and XMLmind XSL Server (ditac, Saxon, Batik, FOP, etc).
• Official support of Java™ 19 and macOS Ventura (version 13).

• Minor enhancements related to the support of helper applications.
• A couple of bug fixes.
• Updated almost all software components (XMLmind DITA Converter, XMLmind XSL-FO Converter, XMLmind Word To XML, Saxon, Apache FOP, etc).
• Official support of Java™ 19 and macOS Ventura (version 13).

• Redesigned the dialog box letting the user add or modify an entry of the MS-Word style to XML element map in order to make this dialog box simpler and less error-prone to use.
• Other minor enhancements and a bug fix.
• Now officially supported on the Java™ 18 and 19 platforms.

• DITA Map/BookMap, DocBook Assembly, Ebook Specification configurations: the "Open All Topics R/O" and "Open All Topics" buttons found in the toolbar now open all the topics and maps referenced in the selected elements and their descendants.
• The "Find and Replace Element" dialog box is not modal anymore, which makes it much more convenient to use.
• The "Hunspell Spell Checker" add-on, leveraging Hunspell, now works on an Apple® M1 (ARM®) processor.
• A few bug fixes too.

• New implementation of the "WebDAV virtual drive plug-in" add-on based on Apache HttpComponents Client.
• Updated almost all software components (XMLmind DITA Converter, XMLmind XSL-FO Converter, XMLmind Word To XML, Saxon, Apache FOP, etc).
• Official support of Java™ 18.

• Got rid of rarely —if ever— used features in order to make the desktop XXE application “lighter” and also simpler to maintain and enhance.
• The xxeconvert command-line utility, which replaces the xxetool command-line utility, runs on headless servers.
• Several other enhancements and a number of bug fixes.
• XMLmind XML Editor is now officially supported on Java™ 17 platforms, on macOS Monterey (version 12.0), including on Macs having an Apple® M1 (ARM®) processor and on Windows 11.

• Made the automatic upgrade of user-installed add-ons after a new version of XXE is installed simpler, more reliable and more systematic.

  However these new simplicity and reliability come at a price: using the "Install Add-ons" dialog box, it is no longer possible to install, uninstall or upgrade any of the bundled add-ons found inside the XXE installation directory (XXE_install_dir/addon/). (It's still possible to do this “manually” though.)

  More information in: The "Install Add-ons" dialog box.

• Updated several software components (XMLmind DITA Converter, XMLmind Word To XML, etc).
• XMLmind XML Editor is now officially supported on Java™ 16 platforms.

• New "Bidi Support" add-on, which adds bidirectional script support (e.g. Arabic, Hebrew) to XMLmind XML Editor. Not installed by default. If needed, install it using "Options|Install Add-ons".

  More information "XMLmind XML Editor - Bidirectional Script Support". Corresponding screencast on YouTube: https://youtu.be/8n3LSGAKlEQ.

• Reorganized and improved the View menu. Moreover, the view settings of the document being edited are now automatically made persistent across editing sessions.
• Updated many software components (ditac, Saxon, Batik, FOP, etc).
• XMLmind XML Editor is now officially supported on Java™ 15 platforms and on macOS Big Sur (version 11.0).

• Minor enhancements and bug fixes.
• XMLmind Word To XML is now officially supported on Java™ 15 platforms and on macOS Big Sur (version 11.0).

• Any configuration (DITA, DocBook, XHTML, etc): added a handy "Change case" toolbar button to the "Convert Text" frame.
• Added a "Highlight all" option to the Search tool.
• New "JSON document format" add-on, installed by default. This add-on lets you use XMLmind XML Editor to edit a JSON file as if it were an XML file.
• Upgraded the XMLmind XSL-FO Converter (XFC for short) plug-in to version 6.3.
• Upgraded the "Word To XML" add-on to XMLmind Word To XML version 1.8.2 which may be used to convert DOCX to DocBook 5.1 assembly.

• XMLmind XSL-FO Converter engine:
  • It is now possible to add metadata (e.g. the usual author, title, date, etc, but also custom metadata) to the documents created by XFC. (XFC equivalent of MS-Word "File|Info|Properties, Advanced Properties".)
  • It is now possible to control the type of changes which can be made to the documents created by XFC. (XFC equivalent of MS-Word "File|Info|Protect Document, Restrict Editing".) For example, XFC can now generate a DOCX file which cannot be modified at all, unless the user types a password.
• Updated many software components in XMLmind XSL Utility and XMLmind XSL Server (ditac, Saxon, Batik, FOP, etc).

• Any configuration (DITA, DocBook, XHTML, etc):
  • New "Set ID" toolbar button. This button displays a menu having 3 entries: "Set ID", "Unset ID" and all new "List Anchors and Links". This last menu entry displays a very convenient dialog box letting the user search and select anchors (that is, any element having an ID) and links.
  • More generally, simpler, better organized, enhanced toolbar. For example, when you use the toolbar to add a fig element to your DITA topic, you are now prompted to specify an image file.
  • Ctrl-Alt-click upon a link of any kind to follow it. (Cmd-Alt-click on the Mac.) This new mouse action is a handy alternative to the "Follow Link" entry of the contextual menu.
• Updated many software components (ditac, Saxon, Batik, FOP, etc).
• A few minor bug fixes.

• Any configuration (DITA, DocBook, XHTML, etc): the node path bar can now be configured to display the value of any attribute you want. XHTML example: html > body > pre#example.fancy.line-numbers > code. Character "#" is used to prefix the value of attribute id. Character "." is used to prefix the tokens comprising the value of attribute class.

  These settings are done using a dialog box displayed when selecting the "Customize" item of the contextual menu of the “file icon” found at the very beginning of the node path bar. This contextual menu may also contain a number of checkboxes letting the user quickly hide and show the attributes declared using the "Customize" dialog box.

• New add-on called "FlatLaf Look and Feel" containing a clean, simple and elegant “Look & Feel” for XMLmind XML Editor.

  This add-on, which is not installed by default, is supported on all platforms. It is especially nice to have on Linux where the default “cross-platform”, Look & Feel (called "Metal") looks rather outdated. It may also interest Windows and Mac users who want a dark theme or simply prefer how FlatLaf looks compared to the default, “system”, Look & Feel.

• A number of other minor yet useful enhancements.
• Updated several software components, among them XMLmind Word To XML (Import DOCX) and XMLmind XSL-FO Converter (Convert Document to RTF, WML, DOCX, ODT).
• A few minor bug fixes too.

• Thanks to XMLmind Web Help Compiler v3, the generated Web Help gets a fresh new look, among several other useful enhancements. For example, the Web Help is now “responsive” by default.
• Also some minor enhancements and bug fixes.

• XMLmind XSL-FO Converter engine: element fo:block-container with a reference-orientation attribute equal to 90, 270, -90 or -270 may be used to temporarily switch the page orientation from portrait to landscape. This feature is typically used to help MS-Word or OpenOffice/LibreOffice display a wide table or a wide figure.
• XMLmind XSL-FO Converter engine for .NET: upgraded the .NET implementation of the Java™ runtime needed to run XMLmind XSL-FO Converter to IKVM.NET 8.1.5717.0 (which corresponds to Java 1.8.0_45).
• Updated several software components in XMLmind XSL Utility and XMLmind XSL Server, and most notably XMLmind Web Help Compiler. Thanks to XMLmind Web Help Compiler v3.x, the generated Web Help gets a fresh new look, among several other useful enhancements. For example, the Web Help is now “responsive” by default.

• When converting DITA, DocBook or an Ebook to any (X)HTML based format (EPUB, Web Help, etc), the generated HTML pages looks much better than before. Moreover the generated Web Help is now “responsive” by default.
• New add-on "Paste from Word Processor or Browser", now installed by default whatever the platform, supersedes the previous add-on which was called "Paste from Word".

  This add-on adds an entry called "Paste from Word Processor or Browser" to the "Paste As" submenu found in the XHTML, DocBook or DITA Topic menus. This menu entry imports the HTML copied to the clipboard by word processors or web browsers and intelligently pastes it into the XML document being edited.

• Updated many software components.
• Now officially supported on Java™ 13 platforms and on macOS Catalina (10.15).