Consider DITA-OT project file contexts in "Validate and Check for Completeness"

[chrispitude]

Our writers make heavy use of content reuse and profiling conditions. Consider the following example:

oxygen_validate_contexts.png (25.29 KiB) Viewed 1012 times

Note that

• The Product variable has multiple definitions, but only one is active at a time.
• The warehouse topic has a reference to a "featureC" topic that is not used in this book.

For book.ditamap, Validate and Check for Completeness returns the following:

image.png (23.42 KiB) Viewed 1012 times

Validate and Check for Completeness has options to consider DITAVAL profiling via condition sets, associated transformation scenarios, and manually specified DITAVAL conditions. All our DITA-OT project files are in the Main Files list. This enhancement request is to provide a way to also consider the DITA-OT project file contexts that apply:

image.png (24.73 KiB) Viewed 1012 times

Our DITA-OT project files capture all of the profiling condition configurations that our maps are published in. (And importantly, they capture this by construction because they *are* the files used for publishing!)

When a writer updates or restructures content in a map, this would allow them to ensure valid content in all publishing contexts that reach the customer. This request is already filed under issue ID EXM-47753.

[chrispitude]

A testcase is included. To run,

1. Open the project file.
2. Open the map file.
3. Run Validate and Check for Completeness.

oxygen_validate_consider_all_contexts.zip

(6.18 KiB) Downloaded 151 times

[Radu]

Hi Chris,

You can already run validate and check for completeness on DITA OT Project files:
https://www.oxygenxml.com/doc/versions/ ... 45_hvt_qpb
I'm skeptical in adding in the Validate and Check for Completeness action defined at DITA Map level settings depending on DITA OT Project files which are a level above it.

Regards,
Radu

[chrispitude]

Hi Radu,

I understand your reluctance. I can share a real-world example from our documentation.

We have a book that is used in eight different help collections, profiled by a different @product value in each collection.

Let's say I am the writer who owns this book. My book has many condition-profiled topic references, key definitions, cross-references, and reused topics. When I make a change to this book, I want to make sure - with completeness - that I did not introduce a problem anywhere.

Validating a DITA-OT project file would validate my book in a single condition, but along with many other books I do not own:

image.png (45.29 KiB) Viewed 800 times

We are requesting the orthogonal operation - validate my single book, in all of its contexts:

image.png (47.8 KiB) Viewed 800 times

Note that both validations are useful, but at different times and by different people:

• The book-in-all-contexts validation is run by book owners throughout the release cycle as they add/update content.
• The all-books-in-collection validation is run by the technical lead writer for a product near the end of the release cycle, to ensure that cross-book links, etc., are valid for that product's entire help collection.

[Radu]

Hi Chris,
Makes sense, I see we already had this internal issue started from what it seems from an email discussion with you:
EXM-47753 Validate and check for completeness - allow using all filters from DITA OT projects
I added on the opened issue a reference to the forum thread and I will try to see if I can increase its priority.

Regards,
Radu