Help Needed: Applying Keyboard Shortcut (Alt+Z) to Insert Metadata in DITA Topics

Oxygen general issues.
Shivani KN
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2026 7:49 am

Help Needed: Applying Keyboard Shortcut (Alt+Z) to Insert Metadata in DITA Topics

Post by Shivani KN »

Hello Oxygen Team,
I am trying to configure a keyboard shortcut in oXygen XML Author to automatically insert a metadata block into our DITA task and concept topics. My goal is to press Alt+Z and have a predefined metadata XML fragment inserted inside the <prolog>.
However, I am running into difficulties while creating the custom Author action.
What I Tried
I duplicated the built‑in DITA framework (so that it is editable).
I opened:
Preferences → Document Type Association → DITA (Copy) → Edit
I went to:
Author → Actions → New
The Problem
When I click New, instead of getting the “Insert Fragment” option mentioned in Oxygen documentation, I only get the “Action” dialog that contains:
ID
Name
Menu access key
Shortcut key
Activation XPath
Operation (with "Choose…")
Arguments

I do not see the “Insert XML Fragment” action type in the initial “New” dropdown.
Request for Guidance
Could you please help me understand:
How to correctly add an Insert XML Fragment action within a DITA framework?
Why the Insert Fragment / Insert XML Fragment action type is not appearing in the “New Action” dialog?
Whether DITA-specific frameworks use a different method for adding XML fragments (e.g., via custom operations, Author mode APIs, or framework extensions)?
What is the correct way to bind a keyboard shortcut (Alt+Z) to insert metadata, given the above limitations?
Any detailed steps, screenshots, or guidelines would be really appreciated, as I have followed the available instructions but still cannot access the expected Insert Fragment option.
Thank you in advance for your help!
Kind regards,
Shivani
Radu
Posts: 9633
Joined: Fri Jul 09, 2004 5:18 pm

Re: Help Needed: Applying Keyboard Shortcut (Alt+Z) to Insert Metadata in DITA Topics

Post by Radu »

Hi Shivani,
What you want seems similar to this blog post:
https://blog.oxygenxml.com/topics/custo ... etion.html
When the dialog to add a new action shows up, next to the Operation field you can press "Choose" and choose the "InsertFragmentOperation". Can you give us a link to the Oxygen documentation steps you were using?

Btw we also have a free Oxygen add-on which should auto generate and update the prolog when saving a topic:
https://www.oxygenxml.com/doc/ug-addons ... dater.html

Regards,
Radu
Radu Coravu
<oXygen/> XML Editor
http://www.oxygenxml.com
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