🎵 MTL DDEX Helper

MTL DDEX Helper is a VS Code extension that makes working with DDEX XML metadata (ERN, MWDR, MLC, Party ID, etc.) faster and easier.
It integrates directly with the Red Hat XML language server to provide live XSD validation, documentation hovers, and schema helpers.

MTL DDEX Helper Screenshot

Install from VS Code Marketplace

✨ Features

🔗 Jump to documentation — place your cursor on any XML tag (e.g. <PartyId>) and press Ctrl + Alt + D to open the official DDEX documentation.
⚙️ Namespace aware — works even with prefixed tags like <ern:ReleaseList>.
📘 Live schema validation — uses Red Hat XML LSP to validate your DDEX XML in real time.
🧩 Auto schema association — run MTL DDEX: Associate ERN Schema to link the correct ERN XSD version (e.g. 3.8.2).
📁 Customizable tag map — edit assets/ddex-map.json to define tag-to-documentation URLs.
🪶 Lightweight & portable — no native dependencies, works cross-platform.

Example

<NewReleaseMessage
  xmlns:ern="http://ddex.net/xml/ern/382"
  xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
  xsi:schemaLocation="http://ddex.net/xml/ern/382 http://ddex.net/xml/ern/382/release-notification.xsd">
  <ReleaseList>
    <Release>
      <DisplayArtist>John Doe</DisplayArtist>
    </Release>
  </ReleaseList>
</NewReleaseMessage>

➡️ Place your cursor on <ReleaseList> → press Ctrl + Alt + D → browser opens
the ReleaseList documentation.

🧩 Requirements

Visual Studio Code 1.80+
Red Hat XML extension (redhat.vscode-xml)
→ automatically installed if missing
Node.js 18+ (for local development)

⚙️ Commands

Command	Description
`MTL DDEX: Open Docs for Tag`	Opens documentation link for current XML tag
`MTL DDEX: Reload DDEX Map`	Reloads tag-to-doc mapping from `assets/ddex-map.json`
`MTL DDEX: Associate ERN Schema`	Detects ERN version and sets VS Code XML file associations

🧠 Validation Workflow

Syntax check — fast well-formedness validation using fast-xml-parser.
Schema check — handled by Red Hat XML, using either:
- xsi:schemaLocation in your XML, or
- workspace-level xml.fileAssociations set via the Associate ERN Schema command.
Status bar indicator — shows ✅ VALID or ❌ INVALID based on current diagnostics.

🧾 Release Notes

0.2.0 (2025-10-23)

Integrated Red Hat XML for real-time schema validation
Added DDEX VALID/INVALID status indicator
Added Associate ERN Schema command
Removed native xmllint/xsd dependencies
Improved logging and tag decorations

0.0.1 (initial)

Initial prototype with tag-to-documentation map

🧱 Roadmap

🔜 Hover tooltips with tag descriptions from DDEX docs
🔜 CodeLens: “Open Docs” above tag definitions
🔜 Auto-completion for DDEX tags based on schema
🔜 Export validation report (JSON/Markdown)

🐞 Known Issues

Requires valid schemaLocation or associated schema for full validation.
Some ERN sub-schemas (e.g. ern-common.xsd) may require manual mapping in Red Hat XML settings.

MTL DDEX Helper

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