Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I cannot start XXE on Debian (Ubuntu, Fedora, etc) Linux. Any hints?

A: If, when you try to start XXE on Debian (Ubuntu, Fedora, etc) Linux, you get the following error messages printed on your terminal:

java.lang.NullPointerException
   at com.xmlmind.xmledit.util.FileUtil.fileToURL(java.io.File)
   (Unknown Source)
   at com.xmlmind.xmleditapp.start.Start.doScanAddonDir(java.io.File, 
   java.util.ArrayList) (Unknown Source)
... 
   at com.xmlmind.xmleditapp.start.Start.main(java.lang.String[])
   (Unknown Source)
   at gnu.java.lang.MainThread.call_main() (/usr/lib/libgcj.so.6.0.0)
   at gnu.java.lang.MainThread.run() (/usr/lib/libgcj.so.6.0.0)
[Loaded (pre-compiled) gnu.gcj.runtime.FileDeleter from <no code source>]

this means that you attempt to run XXE with a Java^TM runtime other than the one coming from Sun. The problem is that XXE really requires the Sun Java^TM runtime in order to run on Linux.

In order to fix this problem:

1. Download and install a JDK or a JRE from Sun (generally the latest, the best).

   Personally, I always download the ``bin'' distribution, not the RPM one, and I install it in /opt. By doing this, I cannot break any application (such as OpenOffice) which relies of the ``official'' Java^TM runtime included in my Linux distribution (SuSE).

2. Edit the XXE_install_dir/bin/xxe shell script and change:

   java $mem $opt ...

   to (for example):

   /opt/jdk1.5.0_06/bin/java $mem $opt ...

   The above example assumes that you have downloaded JDK 1.5.0_06 and that you have installed it in /opt.

Q: XXE starts on my Linux box but its window is blank. There are no error messages displayed in the xterm. What's going on?

A: This only happens with Java^TM 1.5 and Java^TM 1.6, with Xgl X servers such as those installed by default with Fedora Core 6.

Set environment variable AWT_TOOLKIT to MToolkit. Example:

~$ export AWT_TOOLKIT=MToolkit
~$ xxe &

More info in http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xgl_Troubleshooting#Incompatible_software.

Important

The combination XXE+Java 1.6+MToolkit has severe keyboard focus problems. Therefore as long as the Java/Xgl compatibility problem forces you to use MToolkit, please keep using Java 1.5. Do not upgrade to Java 1.6.

Q: I cannot type accented characters. I'm using XXE on Linux. Can you help?

A: Try setting the LANG environment variable before launching XXE.

Example for Spanish (bash command):

$ export LANG=es_ES.ISO8859-1

Example for Turkish:

$ export LANG=tr_TR.ISO8859-9

Q: I have successfully installed xxe*setup*.exe on my Windows® machine but after that, I cannot start the application. Can you help?

A: If you are using Windows® 9x, we cannot help you. Sorry but XXE is not supported on Windows® 9.x, only on Windows® NT, 2000, XP.

If you have installed XXE using xxe*setup-nojvm.exe (which requires to have Java^TM runtime properly installed):

1. Make sure that a Java^TM runtime version 1.5+ has been installed on your machine. (If this is not the case, the icon/launcher created by the installer should have displayed a error dialog box clearly saying so.)

   To check this, open a command window (AKA DOS window) and execute the following command:

   C:\> java -version

2. Please take the time to send us a bug report as explained below.
3. As a workaround, try to start XXE using xxe.bat instead of the ``icon/launcher created by the installer''.

   xxe.bat is found in the bin/ subdirectory of the directory where you have installed XXE (by default C:\Program Files\XMLmind_XML_Editor\bin).

   In order to do this, edit xxe.bat using notepad and change the beginning of last line:

   start javaw

   to (following example assumes that you have installed the required Java^TM 1.5+ runtime in C:\Program Files\Java):

   start "XXE" "C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_07\bin\javaw"

   (Quotes are very important in above example.)

If you have installed XXE using xxe*setup.exe (which includes a private Java^TM runtime):

1. Please take the time to send us a bug report as explained below.
2. As a workaround, try to start XXE using xxe.bat instead of the ``icon/launcher created by the installer''.

   xxe.bat is found in the bin/ subdirectory of the directory where you have installed XXE (by default C:\Program Files\XMLmind_XML_Editor\bin).

   In order to do this, edit xxe.bat using notepad and change the beginning of last line:

   start javaw

   to (following example assumes that you have installed XXE in C:\Program Files\XMLmind_XML_Editor):

   start "XXE" "C:\Program Files\XMLmind_XML_Editor\bin\jre\bin\javaw"

   (Quotes are very important in above example.)

Tracing what happens when the ``icon/launcher created by the installer'' is used to start XMLmind XML Editor

This launcher is file xxe.exe found in the bin/ subdirectory of the directory where you have installed XXE (by default C:\Program Files\XMLmind_XML_Editor\bin).

The launcher is parametrized by file xxe.jstart found in the same directory. This file is a text file using the UTF-8 encoding. (If you modify it using notepad, make sure to save it as UTF-8.)

1. Open a command window (AKA DOS window).
2. Change current directory to the bin/ subdirectory of the directory where you have installed XXE:

   C:\> cd C:\Program Files\XMLmind_XML_Editor\bin

3. Define an environment variable called VERBOSE_JSTART:

   C:\Program Files\XMLmind_XML_Editor\bin> set VERBOSE_JSTART=1

4. Start XXE using xxe.exe run from this command window:

   C:\Program Files\XMLmind_XML_Editor\bin> xxe.exe

5. When environment variable VERBOSE_JSTART has been set, xxe.exe creates a log file called xxe.jstart_log in the directory where you have installed XXE.

   C:\Program Files\XMLmind_XML_Editor\bin> type xxe.jstart_log

   Please send us () this file and also, please specify the exact version of Windows® you use, your locale and the exact version of Java^TM you use.

Q: I cannot download and install any add-on using Options|Install Add-ons. Is there another way to download and install add-ons?

A: Please try the following workarounds (in the order of this list):

1. May be you have problems with the proxy server which is used by your organization. This proxy server is typically used each time your Web browser (or XMLmind XML Editor) attempts to make connections to the Internet.
   1. Use Options|Options, select the Proxies section.
   2. Check that your proxy server is properly declared here. If you don't know how to fill this form, ask your network administrator to help you.
   3. Click OK. Try again to download and install add-ons using Options|Install add-ons.
2. May be XMLmind primary download site is temporarily down.
   1. Use Options|Preferences, select the Install Add-ons section.
   2. XMLmind primary download site is specified by the following URL: http://www.xmlmind.net/xmleditor/_download/list.xxe_addon. Select it by clicking on the corresponding item of the list and use button Remove to remove it.
   3. Use button Add to add this alternate URL: http://www.xmlmind.com/xmleditor/_download/list.xxe_addon (.net replaced by .com) to the list.

      As an alternative, you can drag the above URL from this page and directly drop it onto the list of ``servers''.

   4. Click OK. Try again to download and add-ons using Options|Install add-ons.

   A few hours later, after XMLmind primary download site has been restarted, do not forget to use button Reset to restore the default download URL (because www.xmlmind.com is much slower than www.xmlmind.net).

3. If the above workarounds have not solved your problem, we recommend this approach which should work in all cases:
   1. Use your Web browser to download from this page: http://www.xmlmind.com/xmleditor/addons.shtml, all the add-ons you are interested in.
   2. An add-on is packaged as a .zip file. Make sure to save all the downloaded .zip files to the same directory. For example, let's suppose this directory is C:\temp.
   3. Use Options|Preferences, select the Install Add-ons section.
   4. Turn "Download add-ons from these servers" off.
   5. Turn "Search add-ons in the directory" on and specify "C:\temp" in the corresponding text field.
   6. Click OK. Try again to download and install add-ons using Options|Install add-ons.

Q: When I use Options|Install Add-ons, the add-ons I'm interested in are not listed in the dialog box. I'm sure I've seen these add-ons listed there before. What happens and how can I download and install these add-ons?

A: You are almost certainly using a version of XMLmind XML Editor which is more than one version older than latest version. For example, latest version is v3.8 and you are using v3.6. In such case, the add-ons which match this version have been archived and cannot be downloaded and installed using the normal settings of Options|Install Add-ons.

Old versions of XMLmind XML Editor are found in http://www.xmlmind.com/archive/xmleditor/. (You can use your Web browser to browse this archive.)

For example, you'll find there a subdirectory called http://www.xmlmind.com/archive/xmleditor/3.6.0/ and in this directory, a file called list-3_6_0.xxe_addon. A file called list-XXX.xxe_addon contains the list of all the add-ons that are available for a given version of XXE. What follows explains how to use such list:

1. Select menu item Options|Preferences, then select the Install add-ons section.
2. Remove all the URLs found in the Download add-ons from these servers listbox.
3. Add one of the list-XXX.xxe_addon URLs found in subdirectories of http://www.xmlmind.com/archive/xmleditor/. Make sure to add the URL which matches exactly the version of XXE you are using.

   For example, if you are using XXE v3.8.1, add http://www.xmlmind.com/archive/xmleditor/3.8.1/list-3_8_1.xxe_addon.

Install add-ons normally using Options|Install Add-ons. Now, you should see in the dialog box much more add-ons than before.

Q: XXE freezes when I try to open large XML files. Is there a workaround for this problem?

A: This is probably an out-of-memory error due to the fact that your XML file is very, very, large or contains loads of high-resolution images.

By default, XXE is configured to use at most 512 megabytes. This limit can be increased but this requires you to edit a script file using a text editor.

On Windows,

• If you start XXE using the ``icon/launcher created by the installer'' (file xxe.exe) in the Start menu:
  1. Go to the bin/ subdirectory of the directory where you have installed XXE, for example C:\Program Files\XMLmind_XML_Editor\bin.
  2. Edit xxe.jstart using notepad. Make sure to use a version of notepad which supports the UTF-8 encoding.
  3. Change line:

     -Xss1m -Xmx512m

     to:

     -Xss4m -Xmx1024m

  4. Make sure to save your changes using the UTF-8 encoding.
• If you start XXE using the xxe.bat script:
  1. Go to the bin/ subdirectory of the directory where you have installed XXE, for example C:\Program Files\XMLmind_XML_Editor\bin.
  2. Edit the xxe.bat script file using notepad.
  3. Change line starting with:

     start javaw -Xss1m -Xmx512m ...

     to:

     start javaw -Xss4m -Xmx1024m ...

On Linux/Unix:

1. Go to the bin/ subdirectory of the directory where you have installed XXE, for example /opt/xxe/bin.
2. Edit the xxe script file using a text editor.
3. Change line:

   mem="-Xss1m -Xmx512m"

   to:

   mem="-Xss4m -Xmx1024m"

On the Mac:

1. Using the Finder, Ctrl-click or right-click on the XMLEditor icon and then choose "Show Package Contents" from the pop-menu in order to open the application bundle.
2. From there, go to the Contents folder.
3. Edit the Info.plist file using the Property List Editor (which is the default application to do that).
4. In the Java section, change line:

   VMOptions String -Xss1m -Xmx512m

   to:

   VMOptions String -Xss4m -Xmx1024m

Q: XXE crashes when I try to convert large XML files to PDF. Is there a workaround for this problem?

A: See answer to previous question.

Q: XXE seems to freeze when I do such and such action. What's going on?

A: You have probably found a bug and a low-level error message (an exception stack trace) has probably been printed on the console.

Please take the time to send an email to , describing what you did and containing a copy of this low-level error message. A screen shot of the console is fine but note that it is the start of the error message which is meaningful, and not its end.

Now the question is how the display the console on which XXE prints its low-level error messages.

On Windows, you need to force XXE to use java.exe rather than javaw.exe.

In order to do this, please edit xxe.jstart using notepad and change this line:

start jre\bin\javaw.exe

to:

start jre\bin\java.exe

Make sure to save xxe.jstart using the UTF-8 encoding (normally this is done automatically by notepad).

On the Mac, open the Console application which is found in /Applications/Utilities/, then start XXE.

On Linux, simply start XXE from an xterm.

Q: I just downloaded XXE and opened a few of my XML documents with it. It works fine except that all I can see is a tree view. How can I get a word processor-like view for my documents?

A: Please take the time to read the Configuration and Deployment document. This document explains how to write a configuration file for XXE.

Writing a simple configuration file plus a few template documents for a custom DTD takes 10 minutes. Specifying a custom menu and/or custom tool bar buttons is also quick and easy. Writing a CSS style sheet may take several hours but it's worth doing it.

Q: I get a lot of errors when I open one of my XHTML documents. I'm sure these documents are valid. Why does XXE report such false errors?

A: You have opened an XHTML document conforming to the Transitional DTD and this document, not having the proper <!DOCTYPE> at the top of it, is considered by XXE as conforming to the Strict DTD. More information in XMLmind XML Editor - XHTML Support.

Q: How can I view in the XML source of my document?

A: XMLmind XML Editor has a tree view, a styled view but no source view. Therefore, you need to use a third party tool, for example a text editor, for that.

As of XXE v3.7, the Tools menu has two entries allowing to do just that:

Open Document in Help Application

Use this entry if you simply need to view the document, not to edit it.

Edit Document in Help Application

Keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift-D. Use this entry if you want to edit the document and then, if modified, to automatically reload it in XXE.

Alternatively, you can drop the icon looking like a small file, found in the node path bar, directly on the text editor.

A helper application allowing to edit plain text file "helper(text/plain)" is declared by default. You can change this default text editor (e.g. notepad on Windows) by modifying the "text/plain" item in the Preferences dialog box, Helper Applications section, File types list.

Using the same dialog box, you can also associate a specialized editor to the filename extension of your XML document. For example, you can specify to always use Inkscape to open and edit XML documents having a ".svg" extension.

Q: Certain elements seem impossible to select when displayed in the styled view. Is there a way to select them without switching to the tree view?

A: Please take the time to read XXE tutorial.

Q: I've inserted an emphasis element and typed some text in it. Now I would like to type plain text but I'm stuck in this emphasis element. What can I do?

A: You need to insert a text node after the emphasis element. The quickest way to do so is simply to press on the Insert key (the F1 key on the Mac, which has no Insert key). This kind of tip is described in Being Productive with XXE.

Q: The Edit tool is tedious to use. Is there a quicker way to insert elements?

A: Please take the time to read Being Productive with XXE.

Q: Why is XXE so hard to use?

A: XXE is simple to use once you have taken the time to learn how it works. In other words, unless you read the tutorial, you'll loose your time with XXE.

Q: I don't find the "Convert Document" menu in XXE Personal Edition. How can I convert my DocBook documents to HTML?

A: You cannot do that with free Personal Edition. Please consider purchasing Professional Edition.

Support of process commands has been restricted in Personal Edition. This implies that "Convert Document" menus are absent in Personal Edition.

Q: How can I change the charset of the HTML files generated when I convert a DocBook document to HTML? This charset is ISO-8859-1. I would prefer it to be UTF-8.

A: The charset used by default for HTML is ISO-8859-1 for historical reasons. The charset used by default for XHTML is UTF-8. Therefore if you don't mind generating XHTML rather than HTML, the simplest thing to do is to switch to XHTML.

Procedure: Requires Professional (or Evaluation) Edition

1. Open the document you want to convert to activate its configuration.
2. Select menu item Options|Customize Configuration|Document Conversion Preferences.
3. Check "Generate XHTML rather than HTML".
4. Click OK.

If you really want to generate HTML and not XHTML, then this becomes more complicated.

• You want to generate multi-page HTML:
  1. Open the document you want to convert to activate its configuration.
  2. Select menu item Options|Customize Configuration|Change Document Conversion Parameters.
  3. Select "Convert to multi-page HTML" using the combobox found at the top of the dialog box.
  4. Click on Add
  5. Specify "chunker.output.encoding" as the name of the parameter and "UTF-8" as the value of the parameter.
  6. Click OK.
  7. Click OK.
• You want to generate single-page HTML:

  You are out of luck because this requires customizing the DocBook configuration by hand. How to do this is explained here: Customizing the XSLT style sheets used in the Convert Document submenu.

Q: When I convert documents written in Russian (or Polish or Czech or any non-western language) to PDF, almost all characters are replaced by the "#" character. Is there a workaround for this problem?

A: By default, PDF uses its 14 built-in fonts: Times, Helvetica, Courier, Symbol and ZapfDingbats. These fonts have glyphs only for the western (AKA Latin1) languages. Therefore you need to substitute to these built-in fonts truly multilingual fonts. Fortunately, such multilingual fonts are widely available. For example, the Times New Roman, Arial and Courier New fonts are available in standard not only on Windows, but also on the Mac and on most flavors on Linux (msttcorefonts package).

Procedure: Requires Professional (or Evaluation) Edition v4.2+.

• If you want to use Times New Roman, Arial and Courier New instead of Times, Helvetica, Courier:
  1. Select menu item Options|Preferences.
  2. If you have installed the Apache FOP plug-in, select Add-on|FOP. If you have installed the RenderX XEP plug-in, select Add-on|XEP.
  3. Click Use Windows® standard fonts.

     Note that the Use Windows® standard fonts button is grayed if the Arial font is not found in the standard fonts folder of your system.

  4. Click OK.
• If you want to choose specific fonts: For example, you want to replace Times fonts by Georgia fonts.
  1. Select menu item Options|Preferences.
  2. If you have installed the Apache FOP plug-in, select Add-on|FOP. If you have installed the RenderX XEP plug-in, select Add-on|XEP.
  3. Click Add.
     1. Choose the .ttf file containing font Georgia.
     2. Specify the following alias: serif.
     3. Click OK.
  4. Click Add.
     1. Choose the .ttf file containing font Georgia Bold.
     2. Specify the following alias: serif, Bold.
     3. Click OK.
  5. Click Add.
     1. Choose the .ttf file containing font Georgia Italic.
     2. Specify the following alias: serif, Italic.
     3. Click OK.
  6. Click Add.
     1. Choose the .ttf file containing font Georgia Bold Italic.
     2. Specify the following alias: serif, Bold, Italic.
     3. Click OK.
  7. Click OK.

  Notes:

  • It is recommended to also specify fonts replacing Helvetica, that is, fonts having a sans-serif alias and fonts replacing Courier, that is fonts having a monospace alias.
  • Some fonts have licensing restrictions that forbid embedding them in a PDF file. RenderX XEP enforces these licensing restrictions, not Apache FOP. XMLmind XML Editor has currently no way to detect these licensing restrictions, therefore you may follow the above procedure and end up with glyphs still missing in the generated PDF.

Q: How do I customize the HTML, PDF, RTF, etc, generated using the "Convert Document" menu?

A: XMLmind XML Editor is just an authoring tool. It does not pretend to be a complete publishing solution. Therefore the answer to your question is generally: you cannot do much without tweaking configuration files.

Authors should not attempt to tweak configuration files. If you really need to customize the look of your deliverables, then you should consider hiring a consultant or leaving this responsibility to a ``local guru''. See also Services.

Useful references for consultants and local gurus:

• "Customizing an existing configuration" in XMLmind XML Editor - Configuration and Deployment.
• DocBook XSL Stylesheet Reference Documentation by Norman Walsh.
• DocBook XSL: The Complete Guide by Bob Stayton.

This being said, there are a few common cases for which you can customize what's generated by the "Convert Document" menu without having to tweak configuration files. This is done by using the Options|Customize Configuration|Change Document Conversion Parameters menu item (and for DocBook, also the Options|Customize Configuration|Document Conversion Preferences menu item). These menu items are available only in Professional Edition.

As an author, here's what you can do: send your question to . If this can be done by using one of the two above menu items, the support team will explain which parameter and/or preference is to be changed and how to do it step by step. If this cannot be done from within XMLmind XML Editor Professional Edition, then the support team will have no other choice than redirecting you to this FAQ.

As a consultant or local guru, here's what you can do: first consult "Customizing an existing configuration". If the answer is not found in this document, send your question to . We'll probably not be able to answer your question in the short term and you'll be redirected to this FAQ. However, we would like to compile a number of ``recipes'' for the most common customization needs and add them to XMLmind XML Editor - Configuration and Deployment.

See also XMLmind XML Editor - Customization Service.

Q: If I want to make sure certain users, internal to our organisation, have access to XXE, can I send them CDs or point to a local download?

A: You are allowed to do that because this is internal to your organization. This also applies to add-ons.

Q: I'm supposed to be allowed to upgrade Professional Edition for free. How can I do that?

A: Please use this form: http://www.xmlmind.com/store/download.php , generally accessed through this page: http://www.xmlmind.com/xmleditor/upgrade.html.

Tip: If you want to be sent an email each time a new version of XMLmind XML Editor (Personal and Professional Editions) is released, please subscribe to the xmleditor-announce mailing list. This is done by using the form found in this page: http://www.xmlmind.com/mailman/listinfo/xmleditor-announce .

Q: Do you have a trial version of XXE Professional Edition?

A: Please get an evaluation key using http://www.xmlmind.com/xmleditor/evaluate.html and install it in a running Personal Edition.