XML refactorings

Last modified: 11 February 2024

The XML refactoring support is provided by the Refactor-XML plugin that is bundled with the IDE and enabled by default.

Invoke XML refactorings

  1. Place the caret at the element that you want to refactor and in the main menu, go to Refactor | XML Refactorings | <Refactoring_Name>.

    Alternatively, place the caret the element, press , and select an action from the list.

  2. Select the scope of files in which you want to perform the refactoring: whole project, current module, current directory, or current file.

    For the Directory scope, you can enable the Recursively checkbox to include the selected directory together with the nested subdirectories to the scope.

  3. Select the Limit to files with DTD checkbox to limit the scope to the files with the same DOCTYPE as the current file.

  4. Select the Limit to files with names matching regular expression option to limit the scope to files whose names match the regular expression specified in the provided field.

Available XML refactorings

Delete attribute

The Delete Attribute refactoring allows you to delete a set of attribute definitions on a set of XML tag. If this refactoring is invoked, all attributes matching the selected attribute name on tags with the selected tag name may be removed.

Replace attribute with tag

The Replace Attribute with Tag refactoring allows you to replace attribute definitions on a set of XMLs tag with equivalent sub-tags. If this refactoring is invoked, all attributes matching the selected attribute name on tags with the selected tag name may be removed, and equivalent sub-tags created.

Replace tag with attribute

The Replace Tag with Attribute refactoring allows you to replace sub-tags definitions on a set of XMLs tag with equivalent attributes. If this refactoring is invoked, all tags matching the selected tag's name on tags with the selected parent tag name may be removed, and equivalent attributes created.

Add attribute

The Add Attribute refactoring allows you to add an attribute to a set of XML tags. If this refactoring is invoked, attributes matching the requested attribute name and value will be added to tags with the selected tag name. Optionally, the requested attribute may be added only to tags that do not already contain the selected attribute.

Add subtag

The Add Subtag refactoring allows you to add a subtag to a set of XML tags. If this refactoring is invoked, subtags matching with requested subtag name will be added to tags with the selected tag name. Optionally, the requested subtag may be added only to tags that do not already contain the selected subtag.

Move attribute in

The Move Attribute In refactoring allows you to move attributes defined on a set of XML tags inward to a set of subtags. If this refactoring is invoked, all attributes matching the selected attribute name on tags with the selected tag name may be moved inward toward a subtag of a given name.

Move attribute out

The Move Attribute Out refactoring allows you to move attributes defined on a set of XML tags outward to their parent tags. If this refactoring is invoked, all attributes matching the selected attribute name on tags with the selected tag name may be moved outward.

Change attribute value

The Change Attribute Value refactoring allows you to change the values an attribute defined on a set of XML tags. If this refactoring is invoked, all attributes matching the selected attribute name and selected attribute value on tags with the selected tag name may have their values changed.

Convert tag contents to attribute

The Convert Tag Contents to Attribute refactoring allows you to replace the contents of a set of XMLs tag with equivalent attributes. If this refactoring is invoked, all tags matching the selected tag's name will have their textual contents removed, and equivalent attributes created.

Delete tag

The Delete Tag refactoring allows you to delete a set of XML tags. If this refactoring is invoked, all tags matching the selected tag name on tags with the selected tag name may be removed.

Unwrap tag

The Unwrap Tag refactoring allows you to unwrap a set of XML tags, replacing them with their contents, if any. If this refactoring is invoked, all tags matching the selected tag name may be unwrapped. Note that top-level tags will not be unwrapped, as this may make XML documents invalid.

Wrap tag

The Wrap Tag refactoring allows you to wrap a set of XML tags in a newly created parent. If this refactoring is invoked, all tags matching the selected tag name may be wrapped.

Wrap tag contents

The Wrap Tag Contents refactoring allows you to wrap the contents of a set of XML tags in newly created tag. If this refactoring is invoked, all tags matching the selected tag name will have their contents wrapped.