PDF Transformation Problems with New PDF Plugin

[vinny604]

Hi All,

Please excuse my ignorance on a number of things in this topic as I'm a complete noob to XML authoring and DITA publishing in general. Here goes:

I currently use OxygenXML Editor 17.1.

After doing much research on customizing the default PDF transformation (PDF2) for my user manual, I've decided to give the DITA-OT plugin creation method a go. I was fortunate enough to stumble upon Elovirta's PDF Plugin Generator, thanks to a post here in the forums.

After creating my plugin (I named it 'vincentsplugin') using that nifty web app, I followed Oxygen's user help on installation instructions for my plugin.

I successfully ran the 'Run DITA-OT Integrator' transformation scenario, and was delighted to find my new plugin in the DITA Transformation Type list. I select my new plugin and started the transformation process...but ran into a few errors.

During the transformation, it appears that the topic2fo_shell_fop.xsl file within my new plugin's directory was calling to various files that were deemed as missing in another plugin....the native org.dita.pdf2 plugin. Some of the files that were deemed as missing included 'markup-domain-attr.xsl....and 'ut-domain.xsl'. I am not sure why these files would be missing because I've successfully transformed my project using the default pdf plugin in the past. Where do I start to troubleshoot this problem? Would love to see my new plugin working.

Thanks in advance,

Vincent.

[Radu]

Hi Vincent,

Jarno's plugin generator generates plugins compatible with DITA Open Toolkit 2.3 and 2.4.
In the Oxygen DITA framework folder OXYGEN_INSTALL_DIR\frameworks\dita there are two DITA Open Toolkit distributions. The one without a number is DITA OT 1.8 and the other one is DITA Open Toolkit 2.1.2 so officially the generated plugin is not compatible with any of them.
In which one of the DITA OTs did you install the plugin? DITA OT 1.8 will definitely not work with it. The DITA OT 2.x (2.1.2) might work with the plugin but this needs to be tested. In the Oxygen Preferences->DITA page you can change the default used DITA OT.
You can also download separately the newest DITA OT version available, and instruct Oxygen (Preferences->DITA) to use it, then install the plugin in it.

Regards,
Radu

[vinny604]

Radu, thanks for your reply.

It appears I was initially using DITA-OT 1.8. I tried switching over to DITA-OT 2.X in the preferences menu as you've instructed and my transformation ran into the similar problem of missing xsl files.

I will try your suggestion of updating to the latest DITA-OT version. Are there instructions or a post that you can suggest for the DITA-OT update process?

Thanks so much!

Vincent.

[Radu]

Hi Vincent,

You can download the latest DITA OT distribution separately on disk:

http://www.dita-ot.org/download

and then specify in the Oxygen Preferences->DITA page that it is the default DITA OT folder.
Then copy the plugin there and run the integrator, basically steps 2 and 3 described here:

https://www.oxygenxml.com/doc/versions/ ... lugin.html

Regards,
Radu