About oXygen XML Editor

Posted: 12 Aug 2015 04:41 AM PDT

You can extend a default bundled document type (like DITA or Docbook) in the Document Type Association preferences page, make modifications and then share the extension with your team.

The steps below describe how an extension of the DITA framework which removes certain elements from the content completion list can be constructed and shared:

Create somewhere on your disk, in a place where you have full write access a folder structure like: custom_frameworks/dita-extension.
In the Document Type Association / Locations preferences page add in your Additional frameworks directories list the path to your custom_frameworks folder.
In the Document Type Association preferences page select the DITA document type configuration and use the Extend button to create an extension for it.
Give a custom name to the extension, for example DITA - Custom and then change its Storage to external, then save it to a path like: path/to/.../custom_frameworks/dita-extension/dita-extension.framework.
Make changes to the extension, for example go to the Author->Content completion tab and add in the Filter - Remove content completion items list elements which should not be presented to the end users.
Click OK to close the dialog and then either OK or Apply to save the preferences changes.

After you perform the steps above you will have in the dita-extension folder a fully functioning framework which can be shared with others.

The framework can then be shared with others in several ways:

Copy it to their [OXYGEN_DIR]/frameworks directory.
Create somewhere on disk a custom_frameworks folder, copy the framework there and then from the Document Type Association / Locations preferences page add in your Additional frameworks directories list the path to the custom_frameworks folder.
Distribute the framework along with a project.
Follow these steps:
1. On your local drive, create a directory with full write access, containing the project files and a custom_frameworks folder containing your dita-extension.
2. Start the application, go to the Project view and create a project. Save it in the newly created directory.
3. In the Document Type Association / Locations preferences page, select Project Options at the bottom of the page.
4. Add in the additional framework directories list an entry like ${pd}/custom_frameworks.
5. Add other resources to your project, for example you can have all your DITA content located inside the project folder.
6. You can then share the new project directory with other users. For example you can commit it to your version control system and have they update their working copy. When they open the customized project file in the Project view, the new document type becomes available in the list of Document Types.
Deploy the framework/document type configuration as an add-on.

After your team members install the framework they can check in Document Type Association preferences page in the list of Document Types to see if the framework is present and if it appears before the bundled DITA framework (meaning that it has higher priority).