[oXygen-user] Going from FrameMaker to oXygen / FM Structure View vs. oXy Outline View / Feature request

Radu Coravu radu_coravu at sync.ro
Mon Jan 9 03:58:41 CST 2023


Hi Frank,


We have an internal issue about making various improvements to our 
Outline side view and I added your comments to it.

Adding below a reference to the internal issue ID for future reference:


     EXM-44795 Improve Author Outline view to allow editing attributes, 
placing caret


Regards,

Radu

Radu Coravu
Oxygen XML Editor


On 1/9/23 11:37, Frank Dissinger wrote:
>
> Hi Alan,
>
>
> Thank you for your reply. I fully agree with what you wrote about FM's 
> Structure View. An excellent tool.
>
>
> It would be great if oXygen could enhance its Outline View and make it 
> work in a similar way. I am especially missing the following features:
>
>   * Allow users to place the cursor between tags, or at the
>     beginning/end of the element contents, and indicate the position
>   * Display attributes: Toggle between all/all with a value/none (no
>     need to waste room on the screen for a separate Attributes window)
>   * Expand/collapse complete tree of elements or attributes in one go
>     (Shift-click)
>   * Element content should not be repeated for empty wrapping
>     elements, this is confusing (show it only once)
>     For exmaple, for <li><p>Text..., the "Text" is shown both for <li>
>     and <p>. It should only be shown for <p>.
>
> Can I add this as feature request?
>
>
> I have now switched to the oXygen Users Mailing List and will post any 
> further oXygen-related issues there.
>
>
> Regards,
>
>
> Frank
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Am 04.01.2023 um 22:05 schrieb Alan Houser:
>> Chiming in a bit late here. Longtime structured FrameMaker and oXygen 
>> user...
>>
>> *Frank mentions the FrameMaker structure view. IMO, this is the best 
>> and most distinctive part of the FrameMaker structured authoring 
>> interface. Easy access to any part of the document. Expand/collapse 
>> at any level of the document hierarchy; locally or globally (e.g. 
>> expand/collapse "this" section; expand/collapse all sections). Full 
>> navigation capabilities. Visual feedback (and shortcut control) over 
>> cursor location -- beginning, middle, or end of an element. 
>> Configurable and interactive attribute display.*
>> *
>> *
>> *While most XML editors provide some sort of outline view, I've never 
>> seen one as full-featured and useful as the FrameMaker structure view.*
>>
>> I occasionally use the oXygen Outline View for quick navigation in 
>> larger XML documents. And the "folding" feature in the edit window to 
>> expand/collapse content. But these don't fully replace what one can 
>> do with the FrameMaker structure view.
>>
>> I think you will find that oXygen provides more and different 
>> features than Structured FrameMaker, many of which you will come to 
>> appreciate. I suggest (as you are doing) learning how to be most 
>> productive with the oXygen features and workflow. And be prepared to 
>> miss the FrameMaker structure view. 🙁
>>
>> -Alan
>> -- 
>> Alan Houser
>> Group Wellesley, Inc.
>> Consultant and Trainer, Technical Publishing
>> arh on Twitter
>> 412-450-0532
>>
>>
>>
>>> On Dec 8, 2022, at 10:37 AM, Frank Dissinger 
>>> <frank.dissinger at cgs-oris.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Thank you,
>>>
>>>     Chris
>>>     Radu
>>>     Stefan
>>>     Thomas
>>>     Yves
>>>
>>> for your replies, this valuable information and for offering me your 
>>> help.
>>>
>>> I have already made some initial progress. I have successfully 
>>> created a custom framework with my own CSS file and are getting my 
>>> topic editor window panel look more and more the way I like (using 
>>> the 'print-ready' display style).
>>>
>>> I'll try to dig a bit deeper into this matter and will collect the 
>>> questions and issues as I get on with this. I'll then come back to you.
>>>
>>> Best regards,
>>>
>>> Frank
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> Am 06.12.2022 um 17:42 schrieb Frank Dissinger:
>>>> Hi all,
>>>>
>>>> Are there any passionate long-term structured FrameMaker users who 
>>>> have changed to oXygen as a DITA editor? Has anybody tried to set 
>>>> up the oXygen authoring environment as close as possible to 
>>>> FrameMaker's WYSIWYG view? Or at least in a way that makes the 
>>>> switch as painless as possible for a FrameMaker user?
>>>>
>>>> I've been using FrameMaker V11+DITA-FMx as a DITA editor for many 
>>>> years -- until recently also as a PDF transformation engine, which 
>>>> I have now replaced with MiramoPDF. I have used oXygen for a few 
>>>> years only and mostly as a transformation engine. With FM I am 
>>>> stuck with an old DITA implementation and the DITA-FMx plug-in is 
>>>> not developed any further. This is why I would like to use oXygen 
>>>> as a DITA editor instead. But I find it very hard to make the 
>>>> switch: The way DITA maps, topics, tags, structures... are 
>>>> presented is so different and I haven't the time to learn oXygen 
>>>> properly and in full detail. It's such a powerful tool with tons of 
>>>> features. So I thought there may be someone who can help me getting 
>>>> started -- at least with setting up the user interface and 
>>>> authoring environment.
>>>>
>>>> A few examples of things I am struggling with right away when I 
>>>> look at how oXygen presents my DITA files:
>>>>
>>>>   * It seems that a DITA map loads all the referenced submaps and
>>>>     displays all of these maps in a single window panel (as if this
>>>>     was a single file). In FM I see only the references and open
>>>>     the submaps as separate files by double-clicking on them.
>>>>   * I feel lost in these maps. There are lots of big fonts, frames,
>>>>     colored backgrounds, icons... Can I customize the appearance?
>>>>     For example, by defining CSS-like styles for the DITA elements
>>>>     displayed on the screen?
>>>>   * The Outline view is a bit similar to FM's Structure View. But I
>>>>     am used to setting the cursor into the Structure View to
>>>>     precisely define the point where to insert an element. This
>>>>     does not work in oXygen.
>>>>   * I'd like to see text and images without any tags in one window
>>>>     panel and the DITA structure with elements and attributes in a
>>>>     separate panel. I know I can switch off tags and use the
>>>>     Outline view, but I am not sure if this really gives me full
>>>>     control over everything...
>>>>   * How does oXygen visualize conditionalized content
>>>>     (included/excluded via a ditaval file)?
>>>>   * Can I define a fixed page size in oXygen? I'd like to set a
>>>>     page width (height is not important) to make sure that images
>>>>     fit on the page and that table columns are not too narrow (in
>>>>     PDF deliverables). Setting an image resolution is also important.
>>>>   * ...
>>>>
>>>> Regards,
>>>>
>>>> Frank
>>> --
>>> *Frank Dissinger*
>>> Documentation Manager
>>> ....................................................................
>>> *CGS Publishing Technologies International GmbH*
>>> *Email*frank.dissinger at cgs-oris.com|*Web*www.cgs-oris.com 
>>> <http://www.cgs-oris.com/>
>>> *Address*Kettelerstr. 24 | D-63512 Hainburg | Germany
>>> *Phone*+49 6182 9626-27 |*Fax*+49 6182 9626-99
>>> *Commercial register*Offenbach, HRB no. 21495
>>> *Managing directors*Bernd Rückert, Christoph Thommessen
>>>
>>> https://www.cgs-oris.com/Signatur.png 
>>> <https://www.cgs-oris.com/signatur>
>>> _._,_._,_
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
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> -- 
>
> *Frank Dissinger*
>
> Documentation Manager
>
> ....................................................................
>
> *CGS Publishing Technologies International GmbH*
>
> *Email *frank.dissinger at cgs-oris.com | *Web* www.cgs-oris.com 
> <http://www.cgs-oris.com/>
>
> *Address* Kettelerstr. 24 | D-63512 Hainburg | Germany
>
> *Phone* +49 6182 9626-27 | *Fax* +49 6182 9626-99
>
> *Commercial register* Offenbach, HRB no. 21495
>
> *Managing directors* Bernd Rückert, Christoph Thommessen
>
>
> https://www.cgs-oris.com/Signatur.png <https://www.cgs-oris.com/signatur>
>
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