How to open an XML file in readable form? How to open an XML document - features of working with XML files

XML is an extensible type of markup language. Databases, application settings, software package data, and other information can be stored inside a file with this extension. Such documents are widely distributed among users, so the question of how to open XML arises quite often.

Using text editors

An XML document contains textual information, so you don't need paid software to view it in a readable form. You can use a browser, any text editor built into Windows or from third-party developers, or special programs for working with the XML format.

Windows Notepad and its analogues

Windows initially includes a program that can work with any text - Notepad. You can find it in the list of standard applications in the Start menu. Along with it, another text editor is preinstalled - WordPad. It can also be used to view documents with an XML extension.

If you right-click on the XML file, then immediately below the “Open” item there will be a line “Edit”. When you click on it, the contents of the document will be displayed in Notepad. If you can’t open the file this way, or you want to use WordPad to view it, expand the “Open with” menu.

To read and edit XML documents, you can also use notepads from third-party developers: for example, NotePad++. It features syntax highlighting, which may seem convenient when editing a file.

Microsoft Office Suite

Instead of Notepad, WordPad and other similar programs, you can use applications from the Microsoft Office package - Word and Excel.

Launch Word.
Specify the path to the XML document.

The disadvantage of Word is that it is difficult to edit XML. Therefore, if you want to change some data, it is better to use Excel.

Launch Excel.
Expand the main menu, click "Open".
Select XML document.
Specify that you want to open it as an XML table.

If instead of the Microsoft Office application package, the OpenOffice application library is installed on your computer, then it’s okay: you can open XML through OpenOffice Calc, an analogue of Excel.

XML editors

If you need to not only see the contents of tables, but also edit them, then it is recommended to use special software designed to work with the XML format. The following editors can be used:

XML Editor by Oxygen
XML Marker
Xsemmel
EditiX Lite Version

The programs differ in the capabilities they provide: some have an XSLT transformation function for transforming XML documents, hints in the form of highlighted sections of code; others offer only viewing and minimal editing.

The choice depends on the needs and skills of the user, since the software is specialized. However, you can download the listed programs for free.

View via browser

If you suddenly don’t have a single text editor on your computer, or the XML doesn’t open in a readable form, you can use a browser or view the contents of the file online.

Browsers

All modern browsers support reading XML format. However, you need to understand that since there is no information in the document about how to display the data, web browsers show it “as is”. To use a browser to open (using Chrome as an example):

The launch is carried out in a similar way through other browsers. A new tab will open in your browser, displaying the contents of the XML document.

In Mozilla Forefox, you can open the file in another way:

If the file is damaged, the browser may display an error message when you try to open the document. In this case, it is recommended to use one of the XML editors listed above.

XML stands for Extensible Markup Language. Such files store a variety of information, from application settings and software systems to databases.

Purpose of XML

Files of this format are used to exchange data between users on the Internet and programs. Programmers work with them regularly, and ordinary users encounter them, for example, when receiving and uploading data electronically to Rosreestr.

Due to the fact that the file contains text information, it can be edited in many text editors. Unlike XTML, which is similar in formatting, XML uses user-defined tags. It is precisely because each user is able and free to create the markup that he needs in a particular situation that the language is called extensible. Structurally, this type of document consists of a tree of elements, where these elements have content and attributes.

Opening via browser

When you double-click on a file, in most cases it opens through a browser, and through the one that is designated as the default browser on a given computer (mostly Microsoft Edge for Windows 10). But this setting is changeable:

Advice! To open it one-time through another program without changing permanent settings, you can use the “Open with” item in the same context menu. To open a document through an already open browser, drag it with the mouse into the browser window.

Other methods

Notepad and older versions of Word open this type of file in a form that is unreadable to humans.

Word

Modern versions of the Word text editor open XML with ease, transforming a list of data into a readable structure.

Excel

Excel distributes this format of data in a table. The only drawback that users note is that the document in this program opens slowly, it may even seem that Excel has frozen.

Notepad

A free text editor on the open platform, Notepad instantly opens even heavy files. But experienced programmers do not have enough functionality of the program, so they use additional plugins for Notepad.

For XML files, online editors and specialized free and paid software packages are also used (Oxygen XML Editor, XML Marker, XMLPad, EditiX Lite Version, etc.). Naturally, the functionality of paid ones is much higher.

To view the contents of files, what program you use does not matter, but when creating and editing it can. Comparative characteristics and detailed instructions for each program are easily found on the Internet.

To view the XML file using the tools built into the system, you can use any available text editor (for example, Notepad). Right-click on the document, and in the context menu that appears, select the line “Open with” - “Notepad”. This viewing method differs in that the XML content with all the tags and specified parameters will open in front of you. In Notepad, you can edit the desired code and save it to the same original file.

View as a style sheet

If you want to view an XML file as a style sheet and ready-to-render document, use Microsoft Excel, which allows you to display the file as a table with attributes specified in code. To open XML in Excel, right-click on the file and then go to Open With - Microsoft Excel. The disadvantage of using this method of opening an XML file is that it cannot be displayed if the line limit in the program settings is exceeded. Therefore, Excel cannot open files that are large in size.

Viewing the XML file in a browser also provides a view of the document and its code. Almost any version of a modern browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Safari, Chrome) supports displaying XML files. To view a document, call the “Open with” context menu. A browser tab will open in front of you, in which you will see the necessary information or code.

Alternative editors

You can use Notepad++ to edit the XML code. Its distinctive feature is the implementation of support for code highlighting. The program will highlight the tags used in color. If you miss, for example, a closing descriptor, the program will highlight the required piece of code and you will be able to notice and edit it. An alternative to Notepad++ is AkelPAD, which provides a similar set of tools for working with markup languages.

Viewing XML on other systems

On Linux and Mac OS operating systems, the program can also be opened using any text editor. Libre Office Calc is an analogue of Excel, and therefore is also capable of displaying rows from a document in its window. As for Mac OS, you can use both Libre Office and Excel in the version for this operating system. Like other systems, Mac OS supports opening XML using text editors.

Quite often, many users of modern computer systems and software products of various types encounter files with the .xml extension. Many people simply have no idea what kind of document this is or how to open it. Now it will be considered. At the same time, we will find out what it is and what it is needed for.

What is an XML file

Let's start, perhaps, with the fact that, from the point of view of modern computer technologies and programs used to create documents of this type, it is a text file in which the commands of the universal extensible markup language are written, which is quite reminiscent of the well-known markup tool HTML.

Typically, an XML file contains general information about an object, which is expressed descriptively (more on this later). As for the data stored in such containers, it can be databases often used for video and audio catalogs on the Internet, saved user preferences for programs and applications, as well as entire web pages.

As an example, you can take, say, an audio album of some artist. The XML file includes information about the year of release, genre, number and names of tracks, popularity, etc. However, when visiting resources on the World Wide Web, the surfer does not need to think about physically opening such an information file, since even when playing a song online in a player All data will be displayed similar to those contained in standard MP3 files in the form of ID3 tags. The information is loaded onto the track being played.

XML file type

If you look at the file, you will immediately notice that in it the properties of any object are described using tags and attributes that are set manually.

We are not talking about the basic commands of the language itself, since the average user does not need such information. The only thing that can be noted is that there is no specific number of elements used to describe an object in this format: how many are needed is specified.

How to open standard XML format

Now let's see how to open an XML file. As many have probably already understood, this is a text file, which means that the easiest way to view or edit it is to use any editor, even the most primitive one. Yes, at least the same “Notepad” from the standard Windows set.

However, everything is not so simple here. The fact is that double-clicking a file without setting the appropriate association with any program will not open. At best, the system will offer a list of the most suitable applications. You can select a program of your choice, and at the same time check the box next to the option to constantly use the selected application for all files of this type.

You can do it differently by right-clicking on the file and then selecting the “Open with...” command, after which, again, select the desired application either from the list, or specify the location of the main executable component (most often this is an EXE file).

The third way to open an XML file is to initially launch the program and then use the file open menu (in most cases this is Ctrl + O). In this case, it is absolutely not necessary to use Notepad. Please, the file opens without any problems in the same Word application and similar ones. Even Microsoft Excel is capable of opening data in this format.

However, if there is a need to edit the XML format, then it is better to use professional utilities that support language syntax, for example, Oxygen XML Editor, XML Marker or EditiX Lite Version. Naturally, these are not all utilities that can work with the file language at the highest level. Today you can find a lot of such programs.

Now a few words about why sometimes an XML file error appears when opening. Most often this is due to a violation of the integrity of the file itself, as well as incorrect introduction of descriptive attributes or tags. Additionally, Excel has a limit on how many rows can be displayed, so in this case the data may not be complete when opened.

Possible errors when opening an XML file as an email attachment

Sometimes errors may appear when you try to open a file that is an email attachment. Most often this applies to standard email clients like Outlook Express.

The fact is that the attachment is first saved as temporary data (very often with an additional .tmp added to the main extension), and it is this that is accessed.

To avoid this situation, you simply need to initially save the attachment in its original format to any convenient location on disk or removable media, and then use the standard methods described above.

Instead of a total

As you can see, there is nothing difficult in understanding the structure and methods of opening files of this format. Here, however, the issue of creating XML data was not fundamentally considered, since to fully understand the process you need to know at least the basics of the language itself. Otherwise, I think that users will not have any difficulties with files of this format.

At some point, any user may encounter the problem of how to open an xml file. This format is not common, so the user is not always able to immediately understand which viewer is best for him. As a rule, several proven methods are used to view an xml file.

What is an xml file

The difficulty with such a document often arises due to the fact that the user does not know what an xml extension is. A document is a specialized type of table that contains and is capable of using the markup language of the same name. Often used to form:

list of goods;
extracts from the cadastral register;
on some sites, tables are part of the resource structure;
parts of the application interface;
basics for creating FB2 format.

Such documents, as a rule, have a certain structure, which is represented by a tree of elements. Each of them can have its own additional attributes and some values. For example, in the line the word value is the tag that is used for opening and closing. The attr value will be the attribute, and attrval its value. The last element on this line acts as content. Programmers are often involved in compiling such tables; ordinary users find working with tags and attributes difficult.

How to open xml format

You may encounter this file after downloading some products from an online store or reports, so you should know how to open the xml format. The choice of application or method for opening such files determines the option for displaying the content, the ability to edit the table, and the generation of new data. Here is a short list of ways to open xml:

using Microsoft software package;
specialized utilities;
text editors;
browser and online service.

Xml editor

You should start with programs that were specifically developed to work with this format. The xml file editor provides the ability not only to open them, but also to edit and save them. There are many different applications that provide this feature. You can view xml files through the following editors:

Notepad++

Anyone involved in website creation, layout, formatting table styles needs to download this program. This free application works with all text file formats; you can set the code highlighting function through the settings, which makes reading and editing the document very easy. Often when writing, a person misses closing parentheses or semicolons, and this notepad will indicate where the mistake was made. The interface has Russian localization, which simplifies the work.

XMLPad

Another option for opening xml is the XMLPad notepad. It is also distributed free of charge, helps you view the content and, if necessary, change it and save it. The user can set two options for displaying tables - plain text or a hierarchical tree with tags. One of the main features of XMLPad is the ability to perform XLST transformations and the presence of tooltips. To read the text, you need to launch the program and select the document you need to open.

Oxygen XML Editor

Convenient, easy to configure editor that supports many different formats: DTD, XSD, XSL. It has wide functionality because it is created on the Java language platform. At the same time, users do not experience any difficulties when working with the application; there are no restrictions on actions on tables. To open it, on the start page you need to click on the picture of the folder with the caption “Open” and select the object you need to display on your computer.

Open online xml

There is a site on the Internet xmlgrid.net, which provides the opportunity to download a file with tables. The service not only displays data for readings, but also allows you to work on it and edit the document. There is another way to open xml on the Internet, which uses standard browsers, suitable for display:

FireFox;
Safari;
Internet Explorer;
Chrome;
Opera.

You can choose any one, all of these browsers are capable of interacting with tables, they display the contents of the document in the form of code. To view, you need to right-click on the file and select “Open with” from the context menu that appears. In a new window, select your browser from the list and it will display all the necessary information. There is no ability to edit the document.

In excel

In order to view a file with this extension, you can use an application from the Microsoft package - Excel. It displays data from the table in a ready-made form, with formatting and tags, and helps display the specified code. To open, you need to call the “Open with” menu again and select a program from the proposed list. The program has a standard number of lines for displaying; if there are more, it simply will not be displayed and will not start.

Text editor

If there are no special programs to open tables, you can use any text editor, for example, word or standard notepad, but you will need additional steps to configure the display. So, in a regular NotePad, when you open it, all the entries in the file will be combined into one long line, and it will be very difficult to understand the pieces of code. When opened in Word, the encoding may fail. To correct the situation:

Open Word, click on “File” and select “Options”.
Go to the "Advanced" tab.
In the "General" section, check the box next to "Confirm file format conversion when opening"
Close the document and reopen it.
The "File Conversion" window will appear, select "Encoded Text".
In this window, select the “Other” switch and set the desired encoding.

Program for viewing xml files from Rosreestr

Recently, extracts from Rosreestr began to be issued in this format, and the standard DPF is no longer relevant. You can use a simple standard browser to view the file. The opening method was described above (via the “Open with” menu). You can use a service from Polygon called GeoEditor, which will correctly display all the data.

Another option to open xml from Rosreestr is a special application RosreestrXML, which is distributed on a paid basis and can convert extracts. The utility works with many formats that are used to provide information from the state real estate cadastre. The application does not need to have an Internet connection to work; it can work simultaneously on a large number of tables at once, and it is possible to transfer additional attribute information during conversion.