Short for "YAML Ain't Markup Language," YAML is a human-readable data serialization format that is commonly used for configuration files, data exchange, and application programming. Most programming languages provide libraries or built-in support for YAML parsing. It is designed to be easy to read and write, making it an excellent choice for configurations that need to be edited by humans.
One of the primary advantages of YAML is its simplicity and flexibility. YAML uses indentation and colons to define hierarchical structures, making it concise and easy to understand. It supports a variety of data types, including scalars (strings, numbers, booleans), sequences (lists), and mappings (key-value pairs). YAML also supports anchors and aliases, which allow for data reuse and enable complex data structures to be represented efficiently.
YAML files typically end with a .yaml or .yml extension.
Many modern applications and systems use a combination of XML, JSON, and YAML for configuration files, data exchange, and API payloads.
In addition to YAML editing, XMLSpy provides rich support for XML and JSON. Supporting all these formats in one editor gives developers the flexibility to work with files from different sources and integrate them into their projects seamlessly.
XMLSpy YAML tools include:
In addition to its text editor, XMLSpy includes a Grid View for editing YAML documents in a visual way. YAML Grid will be immediately familiar to developers who use XMLSpy XML Grid and JSON Grid views.
YAML grid provides a graphical representation of the document structure that is immediately easier to understand than the corresponding code in text view. Grid View lets you interact with YAML data in a more user-friendly format, reducing errors that may occur from manually editing raw YAML files (such as misaligned indentation). Being able to expand and collapse sections of the YAML data makes it easy to navigate through large files and locate specific elements.
Innovative tools like table mode (shown in the selected area above) and XPath/XQuery filters make YAML Grid especially useful, and Grid View offers a host of tools that make working with YAML easier:
Since the YAML spec does not include a schema, XMLSpy supports validating YAML documents against JSON Schemas for data consistency and error checking. Support is provided for traditional JSON Schemas as well as YAML schemas, which are JSON Schemas written in YAML syntax. JSON Schemas and YAML Schemas can be edited easily in the XMLSpy graphical JSON Schema Editor.
You can assign a schema to your YAML document in the JSON tab of the XMLSpy Info Window. Upon validation, results will be highlighted in the document and details will be displayed in the Messages window. You can click an error in the Messages window to go to that error in the document for quick troubleshooting.
To enable compatibility and interoperability, XMLSpy supports one-click conversion between YAML, XML, and JSON.
This includes converting:
XMLSpy can generate a JSON Schema or a YAML schema from a YAML instance. This feature is very useful because it quickly provides you with a schema based on an existing YAML document, saving you the work associated with manually creating a schema from scratch. You can then modify or extend the generated schema according to your requirements.