Free XML Editors
Free or open source editors
The tendency in the digital humanities is toward the use of free and open source software, especially in teaching, leads to the need for a list of fully free and open alternatives to Oxygen XML Editor (see below). This page is the beginnings of such a list (installation and configuration notes will be added or linked where available).
- Atom (editor) - https://atom.io/ (hackable text editor; includes RelaxNG validation, XML and XSLT plugins)
- Easymacs (configuration by Peter Heslin)
- jEdit (open source code editor)
- Sublime Text 3 (free evaluation version; license required for continued use)
- Vex = http://www.eclipse.org/vex/ (Visual Editor for XML from Eclipse)
Oxygen
Despite the tendency in the digital humanities toward the use of free and open source software, most teachers of TEI and EpiDoc courses or workshops use the popular Syncrosoft Oxygen XML editor, on the grounds that:
- the developers Syncrosoft are known to be responsive, especially to the DH community;
- it has a very good balance of functionality (XPath and XSLT transformation as well as predictive and customizable editing modes);
- it is very easy for students to learn to use, cross-platform, and the free 30-day trial is adequate for short workshops;
- the full academic license ($137) is very reasonable for this kind of tool (and official TEI workshops can obtain a 20% discount for students);
- it is what many of us use in our day-to-day work, so teaching it is natural.