Handling XML Information Tag

This feature is experimental and might change in the future versions.

The basic idea of the current implementation is first select files that match your criteria and then you search text with the resulting files.

XML info tag handling currently works only with plain text files and XML files in File Mode only. Files must be properly formatted in XML (no unclosed tags), though plain text files can be without overall tags. To read text in XML files, you need to check XML (.xml) in the Preferences -> Files -> File Types.

Then go to XML and check XML for File Information.

CasualConc can handle two format of information tags.

<header attr1="~" attr2="~>

This format is for files that have file information in the overall tags as attributes. For example:

<text date="19901010" type="editorial" pn="New York Times">

<p>Here is the text...</p>

<p>Here is another text...</p>

</text>

<header><attr1>~</attr1><attr2>~</attr2></header>

This format is for files that have file information as text within tags. For example:

<text>

<info>

<date>19901010</date>

<type>editorial</type>

<pn>New York Times</pn>

</info>

<p>Here is the text...</p>

<p>Here is another text...</p>

</text>

Header Tag is specify the header tag name. In the above examples, it is text.

Main Text Tag is to specify the tag name for the main text to analyze. The main text can be formatted in multiple entities as in the above examples (<p>~</p>, ...) or single entity. If CasualConc (or the XML parser) cannot identify the main text entity, it reads the entire text including information as main text.

So if you want to use XML files formatted as the first example, you select <header attr1="~" attr2="~> and type text for Header Tag and p for Main Text Tag.

Close the Preferences window and you will see you are in XML Info Mode at the bottom of the main window. The selected tag type and the main tag name are displayed.

Now add XML files (and/or plain text files with XML format) to the current files table in File View.

Here three files are added (text1.xml, text2.xml, text3.xml).

Now you can select Prepare XML Files from the Menu -> Misc.

CasualConc reads XML information in the files. Once this process is done, Open XML Query Panel appears in the Menu -> Misc.

Select it to open the XML Query Panel.

All the information attribute names or information tag names are listed in the left pop-up menu (the names depend on your xml files).

Select the one you want to use to filter and then select how to search the info.

Finally enter the text to use as a filter (case insensitive).

If you have the same attribute/information tag name more than once in the query, these are treated with OR and different ones are treated as AND.

So if you have auth includes Smith, auth includes Adams, and type is editorial, files that include Smith or Adams in auth with the editorial as type will be selected.

You can add more entries by clicking + button and delete an entry by clicking - button.

Once you enter all the entries, click Apply button to apply your query. You can clear all the entries by clicking Clear button.

For example, the three files I added to the table has the above attributes. I select files that has Gentleman in the title.

When this query is applied, I have only one file to search.