[oXygen-user] Going from FrameMaker to oXygen / Outline View / Text duplicates

Frank Dissinger frank.dissinger at cgs-oris.com
Mon Jan 9 10:47:13 CST 2023


Hi Jang,


Just to be sure we are talking about the same thing:


Current behavior:

What I want is this:



I see no point in the current behavior. Why are empty elements marked as 
"filled" elements in oXygen?


*@SyncroSoft*

Feature request : Can the current behavior of the Outline view be 
changed to show empty elements as empty?


If the current behavior is required (for whichever reason...), I 
understand that I'd need to implement DITA contstraints. Can you be more 
specific about that? How would I do this with oXygen?


Regards,


Frank


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Am 09.01.2023 um 11:27 schrieb 4everJang:
> Hello Frank,
>
> About the last point in your missing features list: the DITA specs 
> allow plain text as well as block elements like <p> inside an <li>. If 
> you create constraints that disallow plain text (and inline elements) 
> in the <li> you should get rid of the extra Text indicators in 
> oXygen’s author view.
>
> And I do suggest everyone to create constraints before starting to 
> work with DITA, as the definitions in the so-called standard DITA 
> packages allows almost everything and is not meant to be a useful 
> subset of elements for anyone’s specific content domain. The first 
> step in any useful DITA implementation is defining constraints and 
> possibly specialisations. I often get the reply from newbie DITA users 
> that they want to stick with standard DITA. Fact is that constraints, 
> and even specialisations, do not take you away from the standard. DITA 
> was intended to be customised, i.e. adapted to your particular content 
> domain, so that it will become as useful as possible - without pushing 
> you out of the standard. Any DITA tool should support constraints and 
> specialisations (as long as you create them in the defined manner), 
> otherwise they cannot claim to be DITA compliant at all.
>
> Good luck with the transition from FM to oXygen.
>
> *4everJang*
> *Amsterdam, Netherlands*
>
> On 9 Jan 2023, 10:37 +0100, Frank Dissinger 
> <frank.dissinger at cgs-oris.com>, 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>
>>> --
>>>
>>> *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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