DocFlex/XML RE, Version 1.8.5

Release Notes

Table Of Contents

About DocFlex/XML RE

DocFlex/XML RE is a reduced edition of DocFlex/XML, which is a template-driven system for programming and running of any kind of automatic documentation/report generators from any data stored in XML files.

Actual doc/report generators are created in the form of special templates, which are designed using a graphic Template Designer basing on the datatype information obtained from DTD or XSD (W3C XML Schema) files that describe the particular XML-file data source. All formatting is specified in templates independently of any destination output formats. A template set (called "template application") is interpreted by the template interpreter / output generator, which makes the result XML doc/report generator work. The output format is selected only before generation and may be any of the currently supported by the DocFlex core. For further details, see Documentation | About DocFlex/XML.

The purpose of this edition is to provide a Runtime Environment (RE) to execute DocFlex/XML templates. It is also includes some large ready-to-use template applications and integrations aimed for particular practical tasks.

The Template Designer is not included in this edition and there is no possibility to create/modify templates.

Other features are essentially the same as in DocFlex/XML (Full Edition):

DocFlex/XML Generator

Provides a Runtime Environment (RE) to execute template applications. This includes: That functionality (called simply "generator") is covered by the Free License. It allows you to execute two kinds of templates:
  1. The template applications developed by Filigris Works.
  2. Custom templates, however, only those created or modified the last time under a Commercial License for DocFlex/XML SDK (included in the full edition).
You can generate any output in all available formats with all features supported. There is no limitation on the number of input XML files and output documentation files as well as their sizes.

Anything else depends on your other licenses. See also:

Template Applications

DocFlex/XML currently provides two ready-to-use template applications useful for real tasks:
  1. XMLDoc (“XML File Documenter”) will allow you to compile any number of generic XML files into a web-ready HTML or printable RTF documentation with the optional inclusion of a namespace binding report that shows which namespace prefixes are bound to which namespace URIs and where. For more details, see Documentation | XMLDoc.

  2. XSDDoc (“XML Schema Documentation Generator”) implements a very powerful XML Schema Documentation Generator able to produce both multi-framed Javadoc-like HTML and printable RTF documentation. For more details, see Documentation | XSDDoc.

    NOTE: This is a commercial template application that requires separate licensing!

Integrations

Currently, three integrations of DocFlex/XML with other software systems have been worked out:

Package Contents

LICENSE.html DocFlex Freeware Edition License
README.html this file
CHANGES.html change log of DocFlex/XML
doc/ documentation
generator.bat the Windows command file to start DocFlex/XML generator
linux/ Files prepared for Linux Installation:
linux/generator.sh
  • The shell script file to start DocFlex/XML generator
linux/docflex.config
  • DocFlex main configuration file prepared for Linux
lib/ Runtime Environment:
lib/docflex-xml.jar
  • DocFlex/XML Java library
lib/docflex.config
  • DocFlex main configuration file prepared for Windows Installation. This file contains locations of other configuration files and various important settings.
lib/xml-apis.jar
lib/xercesImpl.jar
lib/resolver.jar
lib/resources/ Runtime Environment Resources:
lib/resources/catalog.xml
  • Default XML catalog
lib/resources/http_www_w3_org/
config/ Configuration files (created and updated dynamically):
config/generator.config
  • The generator configuration file prepared to run a demo (normally, it is maintained automatically by the Generator GUI)
templates/ bundled template applications
templates/XMLDoc/ The "XML File Documentor" (XMLDoc) template set:
templates/XMLDoc/PlainDoc.tpl
  • The template to generate single-file documentation (in HTML or RTF format).
templates/XMLDoc/FramedDoc.tpl
  • The template to generate framed HTML documentation.
templates/XMLDoc/xmldoc.xmltype
  • The configuration file that defines the 'xmldoc' XML type, on which all XMLDoc templates are based.
templates/XSDDoc/ The "XML Schema Documentation Generator" (XSDDoc) template set. For more details, see: {docflex-xml-re}/templates/XSDDoc/README.html
demo/HumanEvolution.xsd A demo XML schema that shows in every detail how to use XHTML and insert images in XML schema annotations. To see what a documentation it produces, just run this schema with either XSDDoc/FramedDoc.tpl (for framed HTML) or XSDDoc/PlainDoc.tpl (for RTF) template.
integrations/ The support files for integrations of DocFlex/XML with other software systems
integrations/ant/ Ant example files:
integrations/ant/build.xml
  • The Ant build file that demonstrates how to integrate DocFlex/XML generator with the Apache Ant (in particular, this file executes the XSDDoc demo)
integrations/ant/make.bat
  • Windows command file to run Ant
integrations/ant/make.sh
  • Linux shell script to run Ant
integrations/maven/ Maven plugin for DocFlex/XML. For more details, see: {docflex-xml-re}/integrations/maven/index.html
integrations/xmlspy/ Contains files related to XMLSpy Integration. For more details, see: {docflex-xml-re}/integrations/xmlspy/README.html

Technical Requirements

DocFlex/XML RE requires JavaTM 2 Runtime Environment (JDK or JRE) version 7.x, 6.x, 5.x or 1.4.x installed on your system. (Java 7 may be preferable as it is the fastest!)

You can freely download Java from the Java Technology web-site: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/ (formerly http://java.sun.com).

To parse XML files, DTDs and XML Schemas, DocFlex/XML uses Apache Xerces2 Java Parser version 2.9.1. In the case of any questions concerning this library, please refer to the Apache Xerces home page: http://xerces.apache.org.

To generate XML schema documentation (for big and middle sized XML schemas) using XSDDoc template set, you may need a powerful enough computer (e.g. with Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon processor) and at least 512 MB RAM memory.

Installation

Windows Installation

To install DocFlex/XML RE on Windows, please follow these steps:
  1. Unzip the downloaded archive.
  2. Edit the generator.bat file in DocFlex/XML RE root directory to specify the 'JAVA_HOME' variable according to the location of Java 7, Java 6, Java 5 or Java 1.4.x installed on your system.
  3. If you want to run this file from a different location, set also the DFH variable to the absolute pathname of the DocFlex/XML RE installation directory (e.g. set DFH=C:\docflex-xml-re-1.8.5).
Now, everything must be ready. You can start generator.bat and run the template applications.

Linux Installation

To install DocFlex/XML RE on Linux, please follow these steps:
  1. Unzip the downloaded archive.
  2. Edit the generator.sh shell script file in linux subdirectory to specify the 'JAVA_HOME' variable according to the location of Java 7, Java 6, Java 5 or Java 1.4.x installed on your system. Change "Permission" properties of this file to allow it to be executed by Linux.
Now, everything must be ready. Just run generator.sh !

Running XMLDoc

To generate XML File documentation in RTF output format, please do the following:
  1. Run generator.bat. You will see the generator dialog.
  2. In "Template" field, select XMLDoc.tpl template.
  3. In "XML File(s)" field, specify one or many XML files that you want to document.

    Each XML file can be specified either by local path name or by URL. In the case of a URL, the generator will try to download such a file directly from the Internet. When multiple XML files are specified, make sure that each pathname or URL is enclosed in double quotes.

  4. In "Output format" field, select RTF format.
  5. Click <Run> button to start generator.
See also: Documentation | XMLDoc

Running XSDDoc

For all details, please see: {docflex-xml-re}/templates/XSDDoc/README.html | Running XSDDoc, Documentation | XSDDoc

Getting Help

The most up-to-date information about DocFlex/XML can be found on the product home page: www.filigris.com | DocFlex/XML.

We are always happy to hear any questions, suggestions, comments, etc. about this software.
Please, e-mail us to: support@docflex.com or contact@filigris.com

Change Log

Please see: {docflex-xml-re}/CHANGES.html

Copyright© 2011 Filigris Works, Leonid Rudy Softwareprodukte. All rights reserved.