Refactoring XML Documents

In the life cycle of XML documents there are instances when the XML structure needs to be changed to accommodate various needs. For example, when an associated schema is updated, an attribute may have been removed, or a new element added to the structure.

These types of situations cannot be resolved with a traditional Find/Replace tool, even if the tool accepts regular expressions. The problem becomes even more complicated if an XML document is computed or referenced from multiple modules, since multiple resources need to be changed.

To assist you with these types of refactoring tasks, Oxygen XML Editor includes a specialized XML Refactoring tool that helps you manage the structure of your XML documents.

XML Refactoring Tool

The XML Refactoring tool is presented in the form of an easy to use wizard that is designed to reduce the time and effort required to perform various structure management tasks. For example, you can insert, delete, or rename an attribute in all instances of a particular element that is found in all documents within your project.

To access the tool, select the XML Refactoring action from one of the following locations:
  • The Tools menu.
  • The Refactoring submenu from the contextual menu in the Project view.
  • The Refactoring submenu from the contextual menu in the DITA Maps Manager view.
Note: The predefined refactoring operations are also available from the Refactoring submenu in the contextual menu of Author or Text mode. This is useful because by selecting the operations from the contextual menu, Oxygen XML Editor considers the editing context to skip directly to the wizard page of the appropriate operation and to help you by preconfiguring some of the parameter values. For your convenience, the last 5 operations that are used also appear in the Refactoring submenu of the contextual menu in the Project view and the DITA Maps Manager.

XML Refactoring Wizard

The XML Refactoring tool includes the following wizard pages:
Refactoring operations
The first wizard page presents the available operations, grouped by category. To search for an operation, you can use the filter text box at the top of the page.

Figure: XML Refactoring Wizard

Configure Operation Parameters
The next wizard page allows you to specify the parameters for the refactoring operation. The parameters are specific to the type of refactoring operation that is being performed. For example, to delete an attribute you need to specify the parent element and the qualified name of the attribute to be removed.

Figure: XML Refactoring 2nd Wizard Page (Delete Attribute Operation)

Scope and Filters
The last wizard page allows you to select the set of files that represent the input of the operation. You can select from predefined resource sets (such as the current file, your whole project, the current DITA map hierarchy, etc.) or you can define your own set of resources by creating a working set.
The Filters section includes the following options:
  • Include files - Allows you to filter the selected resources by using a file pattern. For example, to restrict the operation to only analyze build files you could use build*.xml for the file pattern.
  • Restrict only to known XML file types - When enabled, only resources with a known XML file type will be affected by the operation.
  • Look inside archives - When enabled, the resources inside archives will also be affected.

Figure: XML Refactoring - Scope and Filters Wizard Page

If an operation takes longer than expected you can use the Stop button in the progress bar to cancel the operation.

Note: It is recommended that you use the Preview button to review all the changes that will be made by the refactoring operation before applying the changes.
Warning: After clicking the Finish button, the operation will be processed and Oxygen XML Editor provides no automatic means for reverting the operations. Any Undo action will only revert changes on the current document.