1. Installing XMLmind XML Editor (XXE for short)

Requirements

XXE should run fine on any platform supporting Java 8+. However it is officially supported only on:

  • Windows version 7 to version 11, 32-bit or 64-bit, with the Windows Look & Feel (LAF).

  • macOS 14.x (Sonoma) and 15.x (Sequoia), Intel® or ARM® (AKA M1 AKA Apple® Silicon) processor, with the Macintosh LAF.

  • Linux, with the Metal LAF.

  • The add-on called "FlatLaf Look and Feel" containing a clean, simple and elegant “Look & Feel” for XXE is supported on all platforms. All FlatLaf themes are officially supported.

It is possible to use XXE on other platforms and/or with other LAFs, but without support from XMLmind Software.

XXE should work fine on Macs having Retina® screens and on Personal Computers having UHD (“4K”) screens. On Windows, all DPI scale factors —100%, 125%, 150%, 200%, etc— are supported. However for this to work, please make sure to install latest Oracle® Java™ runtime and to use the system, default, Look and Feel.

Install on Windows

  1. Download the setup.exe file.

    This setup.exe files includes a very recent, generally the most recent, Oracle® private Java™ runtime. Therefore, you don't need to install Java on your computer. Moreover, if you have Java already installed on your computer, then your public Java runtime will be ignored by XXE.

  2. Double-click on the setup.exe file to launch the installer.

    Requires administrative privileges if the application is installed for all users. Does not require administrative privileges if the application is installed only for the current user.

  3. Follow the instructions of the installer.

[Note]About Java on Windows

The setup.exe distribution includes a very recent —generally the most recent— private OpenJDK Java runtime.

If you prefer to run XXE using a different version of Java™, you'll have to first delete folder XXE_INSTALL_DIR\bin\jre64\ in order to force XXE to use the version of Java installed on your computer.

Note that XXE_INSTALL_DIR\bin\jre64\ contains a 64-bit version of the Java runtime which cannot be used on a 32-bit version of Windows. This means that, on a 32-bit version of Windows, you'll still have to download and install a 32-bit Java™ 8+ runtime on your computer in order to use XXE.

Install on the Mac

  1. Download the .dmg file.

  2. Double-click the downloaded .dmg file to open it in the Finder.

  3. Copy the XMLmind.app folder, an application bundle represented by icon , anywhere you want. For example, drag&drop this icon to the /Applications folder or to your desktop.

  4. Start XMLmind XML Editor by double-clicking on the icon (or use the Launchpad).

  5. The first time XMLmind XML Editor is started, your Mac will generally ask you to confirm that you actually want to open an application downloaded from the Internet. Click Open to confirm.

    Don't worry, XMLmind XML Editor has been digitally signed using a certificate issued by Apple itself. This confirmation is required for any digitally signed application not coming from the App Store.

  6. Move the downloaded .dmg file to the Trash.

[Note]About Java on the Mac

The .dmg distribution includes a very recent —generally the most recent— private OpenJDK Java runtime.

If you prefer to run XXE using a different version of Java, you'll have to first delete folder XMLmind.app/Contents/Resources/xxe/bin/jre/ (jrea/ for a Mac having an ARM processor) in order to force XXE to use the version of Java installed on your computer.

Install on Linux or alternative install on the Mac

[Tip]

On the Mac, it is strongly recommended to download and install the .dmg file.

  1. Make sure that the Java™ bin/ directory is referenced in the $PATH and, at the same time, check that the Java™ runtime in the $PATH has the right version:

    ~$ java -version
openjdk version "23.0.1" 2024-10-15
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 23.0.1+11-39)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 23.0.1+11-39, mixed mode)

  2. Unpack the XXE distribution inside any directory you want:

    $ cd
$ unzip xxe-pro-10_10_0.zip
$ ls xxe-pro-10_10_0
addon/
bin/
demo/
doc/
...

  3. XXE is intended to be used directly from the xxe-pro-10_10_0/ directory. That is, you can start XXE by simply executing:

    $ xxe-pro-10_10_0/bin/xxe &

    After that, you may want to add xxe-pro-10_10_0/bin/ to your $PATH.

Manual install on Windows

[Tip]

On Windows, it is strongly recommended to download and install the auto-installable setup.exe file.

  1. Make sure that you have a Java™ 8+ runtime installed on your machine. To check this, open a command window and type "java -version" followed by Enter. You should get something looking like this:

    C:\> java -version
openjdk version "23.0.1" 2024-10-15
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 23.0.1+11-39)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 23.0.1+11-39, mixed mode)

  2. Use a tool like WinZip, 7-Zip or Info-Zip [1] to unzip the XXE distribution inside any directory you want:

    C:\> mkdir XMLmind
C:\> cd XMLmind
C:\XMLmind> unzip xxe-pro-10_10_0.zip
C:\XMLmind> dir xxe-pro-10_10_0
... <DIR> addon
... <DIR> bin
... <DIR> demo
... <DIR> doc
...

  3. XXE is intended to be used directly from the xxe-pro-10_10_0/ directory. That is, you can start XXE by simply executing:

    C:\XMLmind> xxe-pro-10_10_0\bin\xxe.exe

    After that, you may want to add a shortcut to "C:\XMLmind\xxe-pro-10_10_0\bin\xxe.exe" on your desktop.

    Note that the bin/ directory contains not only xxe.exe, but also xxe-c.bat, which starts XXE with a console. On Windows, a console is needed to be able to see low-level error messages, for example, when developing custom configurations or extensions.


[1] Note that Windows XP has built-in support for .zip archives.