The XML Editor dialog allows one to directly edit the XML description of an SVG drawing. (Recall that Inkscape is an SVG-based drawing program and that SVG is an XML-based file format.)

The ability to directly edit an SVG XML file is very powerful. It allows the user more control over objects in their drawing such as specifying the exact size or position of an object and by giving access to SVG parameters that are not directly or easily available through the Inkscape interface.