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Feed Editor v5.0 ​

The Feed Editor is where you create and edit feeds — resources that return data in formats like JSON, RSS, CSV, or HTML. It's a professional-grade code editor built into the Control Panel, designed specifically for writing XMod Pro feed definitions.

The Feed Editor showing a feed with xmod:Feed, ListDataSource, HeaderTemplate, ItemTemplate, and FooterTemplate

In the Feed Editor, you write <xmod:Feed> or <xmod:JsonFeed> definitions that include data sources and output templates — all with XMP-aware syntax highlighting, autocomplete, and real-time validation.

What You Write Here ​

A feed definition uses one of two root tags:

  • <xmod:Feed> — A general-purpose feed where you define the output format with templates (RSS, CSV, HTML, XML, etc.)
  • <xmod:JsonFeed> — A specialized tag that automatically outputs JSON, with no template markup needed

xmod:Feed Example ​

xml
<xmod:Feed>
  <ListDataSource CommandText="SELECT CustomerID, FirstName, LastName,
    Email, Phone FROM Customers ORDER BY LastName" />

  <HeaderTemplate>
    <Customers>
  </HeaderTemplate>

  <ItemTemplate>
    <Customer>
      <ID>[[CustomerID]]</ID>
      <Name>[[FirstName]] [[LastName]]</Name>
      <Email>[[Email]]</Email>
      <Phone>[[Phone]]</Phone>
    </Customer>
  </ItemTemplate>

  <FooterTemplate>
    </Customers>
  </FooterTemplate>
</xmod:Feed>

xmod:JsonFeed Example ​

xml
<xmod:JsonFeed>
  <ListDataSource CommandText="SELECT ProductID, ProductName, Price
    FROM Products ORDER BY ProductName" />
</xmod:JsonFeed>

With <xmod:JsonFeed>, the output is generated automatically from the query results — no templates needed.

The Toolbar ​

The toolbar runs along the top of the editor:

  • Fold All / Unfold All — Collapse or expand all foldable sections
  • Format Code — Clean up indentation (selected code, or all code if nothing is selected)
  • Structure Navigator — Toggle a sidebar showing the feed structure and regions (details below)
  • Reference Panel — Toggle a sidebar with tag and token reference (details below)
  • Localization — Edit localization strings for this feed
  • Validation — Shows the count of errors and warnings (details below)
  • Reload — Discard unsaved changes and reload from the server
  • Save — Save your changes (Ctrl+S / Cmd+S)

The status bar at the bottom shows the line count, last modified date, keyboard shortcuts, and a word wrap toggle.

Autocomplete ​

The editor understands the feed context and offers suggestions as you type:

  • Feed tags — <xmod:Feed>, <xmod:JsonFeed>, <HeaderTemplate>, <ItemTemplate>, <FooterTemplate>, and more
  • Data source tags — <ListDataSource>, <Parameter>, and related tags
  • Tag attributes — Context-aware suggestions including ContentType, ViewRoles, Encoding, etc.
  • Attribute values — Known values for feed-specific attributes
  • Tokens — [[FieldName]], [[User:...]], [[Portal:...]], and other token types
  • Database columns — Column names from your feed's data source
  • DNN roles — Portal role names for ViewRoles
  • HTML/XML elements — Standard HTML and XML tags for your output format
  • Snippets — Your saved code snippets, ready to insert

Autocomplete appears automatically as you type, or press Ctrl+Space to trigger it manually.

Validation ​

The editor validates your feed structure in real time, catching problems before you save:

  • Errors appear with red indicators in the gutter and wavy red underlines
  • Warnings appear with orange indicators and orange underlines
  • Info messages appear with blue indicators

The validation badge in the toolbar shows a count of current errors and warnings. Click it to open the validation panel, which lists all issues with line numbers — click any issue to jump to that line.

When your feed is structurally valid, you'll see a green checkmark in the validation badge.

What Gets Validated

The editor runs two levels of checks. Structural checks run automatically as you type:

  • Missing <ListDataSource> — a feed without a data source will have no data to output

Database checks run when you click the validation button and verify your SQL against the actual database:

  • Tables or stored procedures referenced in your SQL that don't exist
  • [[FieldName]] tokens that don't match columns in the <ListDataSource>

Validation is advisory — it highlights issues but never blocks saving.

Shared Editor Features ​

The Feed Editor shares these features with the Custom Form Editor and View Editor:

Syntax Highlighting ​

  • XMP tokens like [[FieldName]] and [[User:ID]] are highlighted in orange
  • XMP tags like <xmod:Feed> and <xmod:JsonFeed> are highlighted
  • Comments using [-- ... --] syntax are dimmed
  • HTML/XML tags, attributes, and strings each get their own colors
  • Regions (#region / #endregion) are visually marked

The editor supports light and dark themes — switch between them in Settings.

Code Folding ​

Collapse sections to focus on what you're working on. Click the fold indicator in the gutter, or use Fold All / Unfold All in the toolbar.

Foldable sections include template areas (<HeaderTemplate>, <ItemTemplate>, etc.), #region / #endregion blocks, and any multi-line XML/HTML tags.

Structure Navigator ​

Click Structure Navigator in the toolbar to see an outline of your feed: the feed root tag, template areas, and any regions. Click an item to jump directly to it.

Reference Panel ​

Click Reference Panel (or press Ctrl+Alt+R / Cmd+Alt+R) to open a searchable sidebar with:

  • Feed tags & attributes — Every available feed tag and its properties
  • Tokens — All token types and their syntax
  • Snippets — Your saved snippets, ready to insert with a click

The panel automatically shows feed-context content when you're editing a feed.

Keyboard Shortcuts ​

ShortcutAction
Ctrl+S / Cmd+SSave
Ctrl+Z / Cmd+ZUndo
Ctrl+Shift+Z / Cmd+Shift+ZRedo
Ctrl+F / Cmd+FFind
Ctrl+SpaceTrigger autocomplete
Ctrl+Alt+W / Cmd+Alt+WWrap selection with a tag
Ctrl+Alt+R / Cmd+Alt+RToggle Reference Panel
Tab / Shift+TabIndent / outdent selected lines

Next Steps ​