A very simple XML file (which also happens to be an edit mode) looks like so:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE MODE SYSTEM "xmode.dtd">
<MODE>
<PROPS>
<PROPERTY NAME="commentStart" VALUE="/*" />
<PROPERTY NAME="commentEnd" VALUE="*/" />
</PROPS>
<RULES>
<SPAN TYPE="COMMENT1">
<BEGIN>/*</BEGIN>
<END>*/</END>
</SPAN>
</RULES>
</MODE>
Note that each opening tag must have a corresponding closing tag.
If there is nothing between the opening and closing tags, for example
<TAG></TAG>, the shorthand notation
<TAG /> may be used. An example of this shorthand
can be seen
in the <PROPERTY> tags above.
XML is case sensitive. Span or span
is not the same as SPAN.
To insert a special character such as < or > literally in XML (for example, inside an attribute value), you must write it as an entity. An entity consists of the character's symbolic name enclosed with “&” and “;”. The most frequently used entities are:
< - The less-than (<)
character
> - The greater-than (>)
character
& - The ampersand (&)
character
For example, the following will cause a syntax error:
<SEQ TYPE="OPERATOR">&</SEQ>
Instead, you must write:
<SEQ TYPE="OPERATOR">&</SEQ>
Now that the basics of XML have been covered, the rest of this section will cover each construct in detail.