🎵 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.

Install from VS Code Marketplace

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✨ 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.

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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.

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🧩 Requirements

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

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⚙️ 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

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🧠 Validation Workflow

1. Syntax check — fast well-formedness validation using fast-xml-parser.
2. 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.
3. Status bar indicator — shows ✅ VALID or ❌ INVALID based on current diagnostics.

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🧾 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

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🧱 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)

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🐞 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.

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📚 Learn More

• DDEX Official Site
• Red Hat XML Extension
• VS Code Extension API
• MusicTech Lab

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read CONTRIBUTING.md before submitting a PR.

Security

To report a vulnerability, please see SECURITY.md.

License

MIT License — © 2025 MusicTech Lab — see LICENSE for details.

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