Update outgoing (but not incoming) references when Main Files content is copied

[chrispitude]

In Oxygen, the Main Files feature allows references to be automatically updated when files are renamed or moved.

It would be great if Main Files support could handle file copying as well. When files are copied,

• Outgoing references from the copied content should be updated
• Incoming references to the original content being copied should remain unchanged

We have various templates (book, application note, release notes) stored in a templates/ directory. These templates reference content in a central warehouse directory. Unfortunately, when template content is copied to a new location, all the warehouse references become broken and thus require manual fixing.

In the following example, note that the copied version of release_notes.ditamap has broken links, even though the original (source) map is in the Main Files list:

main_files_copy.gif (95.57 KiB) Viewed 1732 times

If the copy operation adjusted outgoing references within the copied content, the newly copied content would be ready for immediate use.

Testcase attachment:

oxygen_main_files_copy.zip

(5.31 KiB) Downloaded 191 times

[Radu]

Hi Chris,

I understand and thanks for the samples, I added:

EXM-49471 Main Files - Update references when resources are copied

Regards,
Radu

[chrispitude]

Thanks Radu!

This is super minor, but should the broken <ditavalref> above also have the red "broken link" indicator thingy?

[Radu]

Hi Chris,

I'll add an issue as well to present a small warning icon also for the missing ditavalref. I see it's reported as a warning by Oxygen, maybe we should report this case as an error instead because the ditavalref has a local scope so I will also add another issue to present as errors paths to missing ditavalref files.

Regards,
Radu

[Radu]

Just to add the IDs of the two extra issues I added on my side:

EXM-49498 No decorator icon is shown in DITA Maps Manager for warnings
EXM-49499 Reference to missing ditaval file (ditavalref) should be presented as error not as warning

Regards,
Radu

[Radu]

Hi,
As an update the two issues I referenced above should be fixed in Oxygen 24.1.
Regards,
Radu

[chrispitude]

For

EXM-49471 Main Files - Update references when resources are copied

there is a similar discussion here, except that it relates to copying content elements instead of files:

Oxygen XML Editor > DITA (Editing and Publishing DITA Content) > Paste relative path

For that issue, Alex implemented a heuristic that adjusted references only when they were not already resolved at the new location. I thought I'd mention it for EXM-49471 too, although I don't know if Main Files reference adjustment has its own requirements that would disallow this.

[Radu]

Hi Chris,
Thanks, I added your feedback on issue: EXM-49471 Main Files - Update references when resources are copied
Regards,
Radu