[oXygen-user] Going from FrameMaker to oXygen -- Print-ready/Outline view issues

Tue Jan 3 23:42:43 CST 2023

Hi, Frank.

I have not used FrameMaker for almost two decades, so I cannot be of much help in your quest to “set up the Author mode in a way which comes close to what I was used in FrameMaker”. Whether or not you can do that, I truly don’t know.

It might be the case that it would be helpful for you to state your needs as functional requirements – While Oxygen might not offer the same authoring nuances/interface as FrameMaker, if it can be done in XML, Oxygen offers a way to do it!

For example, here are the requirements that I inferred from your e-mail:

  *   As an author, I want to have a WYSIWYG interface that looks similar to how content is rendered for my company. (Easy to do with CSS and an Oxygen framework.)
  *   As an author, I want to easily navigate in a lengthy XML document. (This is what the Outline view is optimized for, to enable you to locate a specific element rapidly.)
  *   As an author, I want to have a WYSIWYG view where I can easily view the underlying structure, both elements and attributes. (For me, here is where I use the authoring view with full tags and attributes turned on.)

Some of this, of course, might depend on what you mean by WYSWYG … Does WYSIWYG encompass the Oxygen Author view with “full tags and attributes”? Or are you primarily interested in the “no tags” view? If the latter, you can view the structure by looking at the breadcrumbs that are displayed at the top of the window, under the topic title, and the attributes by keeping the “Attributes” view open.

I think all Oxygen users have slightly different preferences, and they certainly can also be affected by whether one has an external monitor or is simply working within the confines of a small laptop or tablet screen.

Change is hard. Inevitably, when you switch tools, I think you run into a need to shift at least a little of your habits and preferences.

Best,
Kris

Kristen James Eberlein
Chair, OASIS DITA Technical Committee
Owner, Eberlein Consulting LLC
kris at eberleinconsulting.com
Skype: kriseberlein; voice: +1 (919) 622-1501

From: oXygen-user <oxygen-user-bounces at oxygenxml.com> On Behalf Of Frank Dissinger
Sent: Tuesday, January 3, 2023 12:36 PM
To: Oxygen User Mailing List <oxygen-user at oxygenxml.com>
Subject: [oXygen-user] Going from FrameMaker to oXygen -- Print-ready/Outline view issues

Hi all,

This is my first posting to this list.

I am in the process of switching from FrameMaker V11 + DITA-FMx to oXygen V25 as my DITA editing tool. I have been using oXyen for quite a while as a transformation engine, but not as an editor. So in this respect I am still at the bottom of the learning curve.

I'd like to set up the Author mode in a way which comes close to what I was used in FrameMaker. I mainly worked in WYSIWYG view and with the Structure View, Elements and Attributes windows.

I have spent some effort on making oXygen's "Print-ready" view for the Editor window (in Author mode) look as WYSIWYG-ish as possible, with custom CSS styles that give me visual clues to the underlying XML structure. I then thought that I could use oXygen's Outline view in a similar way as FM's Structure View, but I feel quite lost in this window.

  *   It does not allow me to position the cursor between the elements
  *   It shows only a single attribute, not all attributes that are set
  *   It shows only the attribute value, not the name
  *   ...

I therefore find it hard to see the XML structure in the Outline view and to place the cursor precisely when I want to insert new elements.

So I thought maybe I could perhaps quickly toggle the "Print-ready" style on and off to see the tags and better find the correct cursor position. Can I create a keyboard shortcut for doing this?

Thank you.

Regards,

Frank

--

Frank Dissinger

Documentation Manager

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