This is where you set up options that are mainly used when using HTML Validator in "classic mode", such as when dragging and dropping documents onto the Drag and Drop Window or when using HTML Validator with command line arguments.

Classic behavior is similar to the functionality of CSS HTML Validator v3.0 and earlier, where you would just drag and drop an HTML document onto CSS HTML Validator's window and a report file would open in a text editor such as Microsoft Notepad.

File Options

NOTE: Validating multiple files at the same time using the same output file may result in the viewer application opening with the wrong output file (i.e. an output file for the wrong HTML document). If this is a problem, then validate one file at a time or check the Don't use output file, create .val files checkbox.

•Output viewer - This box lets you select the viewer application that lets you view the classic user-readable text file output of CSS HTML Validator. A full path is usually required with an exception being the default "notepad.exe". The default is Microsoft Notepad ("notepad.exe").

•Output file - When you validate an HTML document in classic mode, all error messages and program output are directed to the text file specified here (unless Don't use output file, create .val files is checked). This file can then be viewed with a text file editor such as Microsoft Notepad, which can automatically be called by HTML Validator after validating an HTML document. We recommended that you use a filename such as C:\Users\(username)\AppData\Roaming\AI Internet Solutions\CSS HTML Validator\23\output.txt. A full pathname is recommended. The default output file is output.txt in the user data folder.

Output Viewing Options

NOTE: Some program options should not be checked if a certain other option is checked. Doing so may result in unexpected behavior. For instance, if Don't use output file, use .val files, Never open viewer with .val files, and Always open viewer after check are all checked, then is the viewer opened or not? In this case, the viewer is not opened, because Never open viewer with .val files takes precedence over Always open viewer after check.

•Don't use output file, use .val files - Check this box if you want HTML Validator to send its output to a file in the same folder as the document being validated. The output file will have the same name as the document being validated but with an appended ".val" extension. Note that these files are not automatically deleted by HTML Validator and will remain in the folder until manually removed. If you revalidate the same document with this option, then the .val file is overwritten with the newer output. This always leaves the latest validation results in the folder. This option is enabled by default.

•Never open viewer with .val files - Check this box if you want HTML Validator to never ask you if you want to open the viewer application and to never automatically open the viewer if the output file ends with a ".val" extension. This is so that you can validate an entire folder of HTML documents by using File Explorer (previously known as Windows Explorer) to select all the documents to be validated and then use a right-click of the mouse to select the user-defined action 'validate' from the context menu which you can set up. Note that you can also drag and drop the HTML documents onto HTML Validator's Drag and Drop Window from File Explorer (which is recommended for faster performance). HTML Validator will then silently create many ".val" files for later viewing, without opening the viewer application for each file (if Don't use output file; use .val files is also checked). Note that this overrides Always open viewer after check. This option is not enabled by default.

•Always open viewer after check - Check this box if you want HTML Validator to immediately open the viewer application with the contents of the output file after validating a document. Otherwise, you may be asked if you want to open the viewer each time a document is validated. NOTE: This checkbox is not available if Don't use output file, use .val files and Never open viewer with .val files are both checked. This option is enabled by default.

•If no errors/warnings, then don't view - Check this box if you want HTML Validator to not open the output viewer to show the validation results of a document that has no errors or warnings. This option will also automatically delete any output files that show no errors or warnings. For example, you can drag and drop many documents onto HTML Validator, and if this option is checked, then HTML Validator will only create validation output files for the documents that contain errors or warnings. This makes it easier to identify documents that have syntax problems. NOTE: This checkbox is not available if Always open viewer after check is checked (unless Don't use output file, use .val files and Never open viewer with .val files are both checked). This option is not enabled by default.

•Open viewer maximized - Check this box if you want HTML Validator to open the viewer application in a maximized window state. Otherwise, HTML Validator will open the viewer in a normal window state. This option is not enabled by default.

•Show messages at bottom - Check this box if you want the validator messages to be located at the bottom of the output file. Otherwise, if Include HTML document in output is checked, the messages will appear near the lines of the HTML source that they were generated for. This option is not enabled by default.

•Include document source in output - Check this box if you want HTML Validator to reproduce the document source that is being validated in the output file (with added line numbers for each line). Otherwise HTML Validator will not reproduce the original document source in the output. This option is enabled by default.

•XML output - (Pro, Home) Check this box if you want the messages from a validation saved in an XML format. The XML file will be saved in the same folder as the source document with the same name as the source document but with an added ".val.xml" extension. Note that these files are not automatically deleted by HTML Validator and will remain in the folder until manually removed. If you revalidate the same document with this option, the ".val.xml" file is overwritten with the newer output. This always leaves the latest validation results on disk. NOTE: You can also generate XML message output files using the command line processor. This option is not enabled by default.

•Enable SHIFT option - Check this box if you want to enable the feature that lets you open a source document with cmdlineprocessor.exe without validating it by holding down the shift key. This is useful when using CSS HTML Validator as an external source viewer (such as for a browser) and you want to view the page source but not validate it. This option is enabled by default.

•Open in editor instead - Check this box to open documents in the editor (where they can be more easily viewed and validated) instead of doing a "classic style" validation when opening the document with cmdlineprocessor.exe <filename>. This generally causes the desired behavior when opening documents from a browser like Internet Explorer. This option is enabled by default.

•Max line length - When a message (such as an error, warning, or comment message) is output to the output file during a validation, the message is word-wrapped according to the line length specified in this edit box. You can adjust this value to determine the best line length for your method of viewing the validator's output. The default message line length is 70 characters (the default was 60 in versions prior to 2023/v23).

Document Structure Options

•Show document structure - Check this box to show the document structure at the end of a validation report. This option is enabled by default.

•Mark implied - Check this box to mark implied start and end tags with "(i)" in the document structure. This option has no effect if Show document structure is not checked. This option is enabled by default.

•Show line numbers - Check this box to display line numbers in the document structure. The line numbers next to the structure elements correspond to where the elements appear in the source document. This option has no effect if Show document structure is not checked. This option is enabled by default.

•Use compact form - Check this box to display the document structure in a form that requires fewer lines. It may be more difficult to read. This option has no effect if Show document structure is not checked. This option is not enabled by default.