Keyboard shortcut for inserting uicontrol tag

[anna_oneal123]

Hello, I am cleaning up some legacy DITA content, and I'm having to insert the <uicontrol> tag over and over again. I opened the Options > Menu Shortcut Keys window to see if I could find a keyboard shortcut for inserting this tag, but I don't see it in the table. Is there a way to configure this somehow? I remember doing some type of workaround in ArborText, but that was long ago at IBM. I appreciate your help and advice!

[alex_jitianu]

Hi,

Yes, it is possible. I assume you are editing the DITA files inside Oxygen's Author mode, right? If that's the case, then the easiest way would be to create an Author Action. This action is very similar to the Bold action, it just inserts a different fragment, an uicontrol. So what I suggest is:
1. get to the Action tab, as described in the link above.
2. identify the action with the id bold and duplicate it by using one of the action from the below the table, on the right. Maybe even give it a shortcut.
3. edit the clone. Change the ID and the Icon to help differentiate it from the original one. In the Arguments section, edit the element argument and set the value:

Code: Select all

<uicontrol/>

4. click OK to save the changes.

If you've given a shortcut to the action then you can use that shortcut whenever you need it, but to make sure the action is more easily discovered, you can also put it on the toolbar or in the contextual menu.

Best regards,
Alex

[anna_oneal123]

Very cool, Alex!! Thank you! This is great! I will share this with my team.