Using metadata to search WebHelp content

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rdelong
Posts: 72
Joined: Tue Oct 21, 2014 10:01 pm

Using metadata to search WebHelp content

Post by rdelong »

We are using WebHelp Responsive to produce output, but now we want to support multiple product lines. I'm not sure how to support this requirement in WebHelp. I'd like to use metadata in our DITA sources to identify topics that are applicable to a particular product or audience. Can WebHelp search be used to specify such metadata properties, or do I need to look into a third-party tool, such as ElasticSearch?
Costin
Posts: 828
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2011 6:04 pm

Re: Using metadata to search WebHelp content

Post by Costin »

Hi rdelong,

Unfortunately, as in the last WebHelp implementation, this is not possible.
However, we do have an improvement request to implement faceted search support in WebHelp logged in our internal issues/improvements tracking system. The development team will investigate this to find a possible implementation that would be included in a future oXygen version.

I just added your vote for it and we will update this thread when/if this functionality will get implemented.

Regards,
Costin
Costin Sandoi
oXygen XML Editor and Author Support
schelmenzunft
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Jun 08, 2016 11:47 am

Re: Using metadata to search WebHelp content

Post by schelmenzunft »

Any progress on this topic? Any workaround available? Thx.
alin
Site Admin
Posts: 268
Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2009 11:21 am

Re: Using metadata to search WebHelp content

Post by alin »

Hello,

I wanted to follow up to announce you that the Oxygen WebHelp Responsive output generated with Oxygen Publishing Engine 26.0 now features faceted search functionality. This feature is powered by Oxygen Feedback 4.0, which can be configured as an external search engine for the WebHelp Responsive output.

To use this functionality, facets must be defined using a DITA Subject Scheme Map, which enables the categorization of DITA topics into various controlled values and subject definitions​​. Once defined, these faceted values must be associated with specific DITA topics using a DITA Classification Map.

In practice, this means when users search within the WebHelp Responsive output, they can now narrow down their search results by selecting relevant facets. This update significantly improves the user's ability to find specific topics efficiently.

For a detailed guide on configuring faceted search in your WebHelp Responsive output, please refer to our user manual: How to Configure Faceted Search in WebHelp Output

All the latest WebHelp Responsive versions of our user manuals have been generated with version 26 of Oxygen Publishing Engine. Moreover they are using Oxygen Feedback Cloud as search engine. Here are some of our user manuals where you can try the faceted search feature:
- Oxygen WebHelp Responsive
- Oxygen Feedback Cloud

Regards,
Alin
Alin Balasa
Software Developer
<oXygen/> XML Editor
http://www.oxygenxml.com
galanohan
Posts: 114
Joined: Mon Jul 10, 2023 11:49 am

Re: Using metadata to search WebHelp content

Post by galanohan »

Hi Alin,

I read the instructions on https://www.oxygenxml.com/doc/versions/ ... earch.html, it was quite helpful. Thank you for sharing!

However, one thing I'd like to comment here is that, the subject scheme map sample provided in that page follows the syntax defined by DITA 1.3 DTD:

<subjectScheme>
<subjectdef keys="os" navtitle="Operating system">
<subjectdef keys="linux" navtitle="Linux">
<subjectdef keys="redhat" navtitle="RedHat Linux"/>
<subjectdef keys="suse" navtitle="SUSE Linux"/>
</subjectdef>
<subjectdef keys="windows" navtitle="Windows">
<subjectdef keys="win7" navtitle="Windows 7"/>
<subjectdef keys="win10" navtitle="Windows 10"/>
</subjectdef>
</subjectdef>
</subjectScheme>

the code that follows the syntax of DITA 2.0 DTD would be:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE subjectScheme PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA 2.x Subject Scheme Map//EN" "subjectScheme.dtd">
<subjectScheme>
<subjectdef keys="os">
<subjectHead>
<subjectHeadMeta>
<titlealt title-role="">Operating system</titlealt>
<shortdesc>A software system on which users can give orders to computers</shortdesc>
</subjectHeadMeta>
</subjectHead>
<subjectdef keys="linux">
<subjectHead>
<subjectHeadMeta>
<titlealt title-role="">Linux</titlealt>
<shortdesc>Linux OS</shortdesc>
</subjectHeadMeta>

</subjectHead>
<subjectdef keys="redhat">
<subjectHead>
<subjectHeadMeta>
<titlealt title-role="">RedHat Linux</titlealt>
<shortdesc>RedHat Linux Distro</shortdesc>
</subjectHeadMeta>

</subjectHead>
</subjectdef>

<subjectdef keys="suse">
<subjectHead>
<subjectHeadMeta>
<titlealt title-role="">SUSE Linux</titlealt>
<shortdesc>SUSE Linux Distro</shortdesc>
</subjectHeadMeta>

</subjectHead>
</subjectdef>
</subjectdef>
<subjectdef keys="windows">
<subjectHead>
<subjectHeadMeta>
<titlealt title-role="">Windows</titlealt>
<shortdesc>Window OS</shortdesc>
</subjectHeadMeta>

</subjectHead>
<subjectdef keys="win7">
<subjectHead>
<subjectHeadMeta>
<titlealt title-role="">Windows 7</titlealt>
<shortdesc>Win 7</shortdesc>
</subjectHeadMeta>

</subjectHead>
</subjectdef>
<subjectdef keys="win10">
<subjectHead>
<subjectHeadMeta>
<titlealt title-role="">Windows 10</titlealt>
<shortdesc>Win 10</shortdesc>
</subjectHeadMeta>

</subjectHead>
</subjectdef>
</subjectdef>
</subjectdef>
</subjectScheme>

Yes, the code in DITA 2.0 seems to be much longer than what it looks in DITA 1.3 for the same definitions, due to the attribute navtitle which no longer belongs to the domain of subjectdef. (same for the maps btw).
Please somebody tell me DITA 2.0 is dead...
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