YAML Tools in XMLSpy

YAML Editor and Validator

  • Syntax highlighting
  • YAML wellformedness checking
  • YAML Grid View
  • Validate YAML against JSON Schema / YAML schema
  • Support for YAML Schemas
  • Convert YAML to JSON / XML
  • Convert XML to YAML
  • Convert JSON to YAML
  • Generate JSON Schema from YAML
  • Generate YAML schema from YAML

Advantages of YAML

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.

YAML Editor: Text View

YAML editor in XMLSpy

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:

  • Editing YAML with syntax highlighting
  • Source folding and line numbers
  • Wellformedness checking
  • YAML validator
  • Generation of schema from YAML document
  • One click YAML converter

YAML Grid View

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.

Visual YAML editor in XMLSpy

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:

  • The YAML document structure can be easily modified by adding, deleting, or moving objects in the grid. Entire blocks of text can be reorganized quickly (for example, by sorting them or moving them).
  • Content can be edited easily in Grid View, especially by using the in-cell commands in individual cells.
  • Table Mode allows a node with descendant nodes to be displayed in a table format for easy understanding, with each descendant object displayed in a separate row. You can toggle Table Mode on and off to suit the content at hand.
  • Viewing features help you quickly determine the relationship between an alias and an anchor.
  • Filters and formulas can be used to filter and process data as needed.
  • Content can be edited visually using drag and drop and datatype context menus.

YAML Validator

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.

Convert YAML

To enable compatibility and interoperability, XMLSpy supports one-click conversion between YAML, XML, and JSON.

This includes converting:

  • JSON to YAML
  • XML to YAML
  • YAML to JSON / XML
  • YAML to JSON Schema
  • YAML to YAML schema
Convert JSON to YAML in XMLSpy

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.