Continuing my recent trend of Tridion GUI extensions,
- Using jQuery for Tridion GUI Extensions.
- Integrating Tridion with Gravatar.
- The Read-Only Fields Tridion GUI Extension.
I give you the “Item XML Display” extension:
I have been thinking for the longest time of the need for such an extension while working on various Tridion projects.
Description
The problem is simple; during development work on a typical Tridion project there come times when you need to view the raw XML of items within the system, usually those would be components, especially when developing XSLT templates, but examining other items’ XML can be very useful as well. Looking at publications’ metadata or folders’, structuregroups’, etc.
Without the extension, to view the XML of any item in Tridion you have to be remotely or directly connected to the CM server, then you can simply type the TCM URI of the item into IE’s address bar and you get the XML:
But what if right now your team mates are also using the remote connections and its maxed out? Or what if you’re working on a project where you don’t even have remote access at all?
Well, you could use one of the power tools or even create your own custom URL (granted you can install it on the server first).
But for those you will usually need to copy or memorize the URI first into a different page and that’s, well… annoying.
What if you could simply click on the item you wish to view its XML and see it in the GUI? Well, now you can 🙂
With my extension you can do just this:
Simply select the context menu item “Item Xml Display” to view the entire XML of the item.
The extension allows you to quickly grab the XML structure by clicking on the clipboard button on the right so you can for example paste it into your favorite XML/XSLT editor:
Installation
- Install the jQuery extension (as explained in a previous post).
- Download the extension code.
- Copy the zip file to the CM server.
- Install the extension using TcmExtensionInstaller.exe utility.
- Open IIS and configure [tridion_home]/web/extensions/xmldisplay as an application:
- Clear IE cache on any client using the CME.
- Enjoy…
Code
Can be downloaded here.
Great stuff as usual. Are you aware by the way that this functionality was demoed at the CTP bootcamp for the 2011 release, as an example of how easy it is to customize the GUI in 2011?
At least it shows that this functionality is on everyone’s radar!
Thanks Quirijn,
I didnt know that it was demoed at the bootcamp but I can imagine many people have thought about this addon to the GUI for a long time.
Hopefully I can get to making a version of this extension for 2011 soon.