Formatted text is placed into an editable multiline text area, hereinafter referred to as the "OE text area".

Your text and all the information about its internal structure (headings, tables, lists etc.) are stored in the form of XML code. The OE text area interprets this XML code and displays structured text in accordance with XML tag instructions.

In other words, the OE text area contains an editable visualization of XML code as formatted text.

Resizing the text area

You can change the height of the OE text area by dragging the resize handle located at the lower-right corner of the OE interface (refer to the next screenshot).

XML input handlers

Every time you edit text that is stored using the XML block datatype, the system needs to handle your input and present an editable visualization of XML code. This is done by using XML input handlers, i.e. PHP classes providing a mechanism that handles input from the user and presents an editable visualization of XML code in accordance with the implemented logic. When the OE is enabled, the visualization is based on converting XML tag instructions into valid XHTML 1.0 code, which is then interpreted by the user's browser. The XML input handler located at "ezxmltext/handlers/input/ezoexmlinput.php" takes care of this.

When storing the changes (saving or publishing the draft), the OE will parse and validate the updated XHTML code and convert it into eZ Publish XML code. This is done by invoking the input parser located at "ezxmltext/handlers/input/ezoeinputparser.php". (In terms of the XML block datatype, input parser is a PHP class providing a mechanism that analyzes XML/XHTML input, checks it for errors and fixes them whenever possible in accordance with the implemented logic.)