Issue with custom DITA specialization not validating in oXygen
Posted: Mon Nov 17, 2025 11:46 am
Hi everyone,
I’m new to oXygen and to the forum, and I’m hoping someone can point me in the right direction. I’m working on a small project that uses a custom DITA specialization, and while the content validates correctly using command-line tools, it doesn’t validate inside oXygen.
I’ve added the custom DTDs to the Document Type Association and mapped the file patterns correctly. However, when I open a topic or run Validate, oXygen still reports that certain specialized elements are “not allowed in this context.” It feels like it’s still using the default DITA DTDs instead of mine.
Is there a specific location where custom DITA DTDs must be placed for oXygen to pick them up automatically? Do I need to modify the catalog file manually, or should the DITA Open Toolkit integration handle that? And has anyone run into a similar issue with specialized domains not being recognized?
I’m sure I’m missing something small, but after reading the docs I’m still a bit lost. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, and glad to join the community!
I’m new to oXygen and to the forum, and I’m hoping someone can point me in the right direction. I’m working on a small project that uses a custom DITA specialization, and while the content validates correctly using command-line tools, it doesn’t validate inside oXygen.
I’ve added the custom DTDs to the Document Type Association and mapped the file patterns correctly. However, when I open a topic or run Validate, oXygen still reports that certain specialized elements are “not allowed in this context.” It feels like it’s still using the default DITA DTDs instead of mine.
Is there a specific location where custom DITA DTDs must be placed for oXygen to pick them up automatically? Do I need to modify the catalog file manually, or should the DITA Open Toolkit integration handle that? And has anyone run into a similar issue with specialized domains not being recognized?
I’m sure I’m missing something small, but after reading the docs I’m still a bit lost. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, and glad to join the community!