How to change default behavior of webhelp output that tests

[mstrubberg]

When entering any type of list <ol>, <ul>, <dl>, <sl>, <choices> the compact attribute value is not set in the XML.

However, webhelp output is defaulting all lists to compact="yes", thereby compressing the list items together.

I don't want to require that all lists must have compact="no" applied.

What is the best way to default all lists to compact="no"?

[sorin_ristache]

The default value of the compact attribute in DITA XML topics is yes for ordered lists, unordered lists, etc. So if you want to have a larger space between list items the usual way is to add the compact="no" attribute on the XML list elements.

Other option that would follow the DITA spirit is to extend the DITA schema and create a DITA specialization that sets the compact attribute to the value that you want on the XML elements that you want.

A more expedient option is to do the following changes in the file OXYGEN_INSTALL_DIR\frameworks\dita\DITA-OT\plugins\org.dita.xhtml\xsl\xslhtml\dita2htmlImpl.xsl:

• 1. Replace the code:
  

  Code: Select all

  <xsl:template match="*[contains(@class, ' topic/li ')]" name="topic.li">
  
  <li>
  
    <xsl:choose>
  
      <xsl:when test="parent::*/@compact = 'no'">
  
        <xsl:attribute name="class">liexpand</xsl:attribute>
  
        <!-- handle non-compact list items -->
  
        <xsl:call-template name="commonattributes">
  
          <xsl:with-param name="default-output-class" select="'liexpand'"/>
  
        </xsl:call-template>
  
      </xsl:when>
  
      <xsl:otherwise>
  
        <xsl:call-template name="commonattributes"/>
  
      </xsl:otherwise>
  
    </xsl:choose>
  
    <xsl:call-template name="setidaname"/>
  
    <xsl:apply-templates/>
  
  </li><xsl:value-of select="$newline"/>
  
  </xsl:template>
  

  with the code:
  

  Code: Select all

  <xsl:template match="*[contains(@class, ' topic/li ')]" name="topic.li">
  
  <li>
  
        <xsl:attribute name="class">liexpand</xsl:attribute>
  
        <!-- handle non-compact list items -->
  
        <xsl:call-template name="commonattributes">
  
          <xsl:with-param name="default-output-class" select="'liexpand'"/>
  
        </xsl:call-template>
  
    <xsl:call-template name="setidaname"/>
  
    <xsl:apply-templates/>
  
  </li><xsl:value-of select="$newline"/>
  
  </xsl:template>
  

  
  2. Replace the code:
  

  Code: Select all

  <xsl:template match="*[contains(@class, ' topic/sli ')]" name="topic.sli">
  
    <li>
  
      <xsl:choose>
  
        <xsl:when test="parent::*/@compact = 'no'">
  
          <xsl:attribute name="class">sliexpand</xsl:attribute>
  
          <!-- handle non-compact list items -->
  
          <xsl:call-template name="commonattributes">
  
            <xsl:with-param name="default-output-class" select="'sliexpand'"/>
  
          </xsl:call-template>
  
        </xsl:when>
  
        <xsl:otherwise>
  
          <xsl:call-template name="commonattributes"/>
  
        </xsl:otherwise>
  
      </xsl:choose>
  
      <xsl:call-template name="commonattributes"/>
  
      <xsl:call-template name="setidaname"/>
  
      <xsl:apply-templates/>
  
    </li><xsl:value-of select="$newline"/>
  
  </xsl:template>
  

  with the code:
  

  Code: Select all

  <xsl:template match="*[contains(@class, ' topic/sli ')]" name="topic.sli">
  
    <li>
  
          <xsl:attribute name="class">sliexpand</xsl:attribute>
  
          <!-- handle non-compact list items -->
  
          <xsl:call-template name="commonattributes">
  
            <xsl:with-param name="default-output-class" select="'sliexpand'"/>
  
          </xsl:call-template>
  
      <xsl:call-template name="commonattributes"/>
  
      <xsl:call-template name="setidaname"/>
  
      <xsl:apply-templates/>
  
    </li><xsl:value-of select="$newline"/>
  
  </xsl:template>
  

[mstrubberg]

Thanks Sorin, Removing the test for compact='no' worked perfectly.