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Downsizing Web Author DITA Frameworks

Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2017 4:39 pm
by Aliahc
Hi,

I am trying to strip down the frameworks/templates available to use in my company's implementation of Web Author because it gets confusing and is unnecessarily cluttered when we won't be using most of them.

I have removed the frameworks like TEI in the regular way in Web Author administration; but now I am left with 4 different variations of DITA - yes, as the technical author I know the difference but its unnecessary and confusing when all the folders are named the same, and it is also replicated throughout topics and maps. I just want to keep the lightweight and the rng versions, and rename the folders to something more differentiating.

Now, I know I can create a copied and custom version of the dita framework on desktop Editor and upload as a replacement DITA framework, but I felt that if it was possible, simply removing parts of the default Web Author DITA framework. I've even accessed the back end folders of the framework on the Web Author server location, but feel unsure of what to remove or change.

What course of action should I take to achieve this?

Thanks

Re: Downsizing Web Author DITA Frameworks

Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 8:45 am
by cristi_talau
Hello,

We have predefined templates in our DITA-related frameworks. What you can do is to extend the builtin DITA frameworks (see the corresponding section here [1]) and customize the directories where to Web Author looks for templates [2].

At this point you will have a framework extension that will simply override the configuration in the builtin frameworks. This way you won't need to touch the builtin frameworks, making it simpler to upgrade to a new version in which the builtin frameworks will be changed.

Best,
Cristian

[1] https://www.oxygenxml.com/doc/versions/ ... aring.html
[2] https://www.oxygenxml.com/doc/versions/ ... s-tab.html

Re: Downsizing Web Author DITA Frameworks

Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 4:17 pm
by Aliahc
Thanks! That worked perfectly - I would never have assumed that adding an extended version would override rather than add as a new framework.

A couple of further questions:

I want to replicate the markdown-to-dita feature that exists in Author to enable my developer colleagues to write in markdown (as is their preference) and I as the Technical Author can retrieve the data in DITA. How would I manage this? I notice that Markdown isn't as a framework but there is a template in the TEI framework (which I've removed in Web Author) while there is a conversion mechanism to DITA. Can I get some guidance on this please?

Finally, Is it feasible to customise an SVG framework to be a simple graphical tool within Web Author (provided we added some js and jquery of our own to drag/drop etc) so that the author view for an SVG template is equivalent to the non-xml author view of textual templates?

Many thanks

Re: Downsizing Web Author DITA Frameworks

Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 4:32 pm
by cristi_talau
Hello,

Regarding the SVG support, rendering embedded SVGs is implemented as a Web Author plugin. For MathML we use a similar approach and we have a very simple editor (a text area). WIRIS developed a plugin that replaced the builtin editor with a more advanced equation builder. So, yes, it is feasible to hook in an SVG editor.

The sources for both the SVG and the builtin MathML plugins can be found in our SDK. We can also release the two plugins as open-source projects on GitHub and if you are interested to contribute back the SVG plugin. This way, the oXygen team can make sure it will continue to work with future
releases of Web Author.

Regarding the Markdown support, we do not currently have a Markdown editor in Web Author. If you are using a Desktop oXygen Author app you can link Markdown files directly in your DITA map and even convert them to DITA topics by using the context menu in the DITA Map. [1]

Best,
Cristian

[1] https://www.oxygenxml.com/doc/versions/ ... -dita.html

Re: Downsizing Web Author DITA Frameworks

Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2019 12:47 pm
by cristi_talau
Hello,

I am updating this forum post to let you know that Oxygen XML Web Author version 21.0 is now released [1] and it now has support for editing Markdown files. You can find more details in our documentation: https://www.oxygenxml.com/doc/versions/ ... _documents.

Best,
Cristian

[1] https://www.oxygenxml.com/xml_web_author/whats_new.html