What's New in Oxygen XML Author 21.1
May 23, 2019
Related version: 21.0
Version 21.1 of the Oxygen XML Author introduces HTML5 support (without treating it as XHTML), providing specialized text-based editing and validation support. DITA support includes a new Resource Hierarchy/Dependencies view, the ability to quickly find similar topics, DITA PDF publishing now provides the possibility of adding a mini-TOC at each chapter as well as internationalization, and many other improvements.
With this release, Oxygen PDF Chemistry is no longer in a BETA stage, it is included in Oxygen as the default PDF publishing engine and also available as a separate commercial option for those who want to use the publishing engine outside of Oxygen.
As always, this release includes numerous other requested features, API additions, bug fixes, and component updates.
There are changes in:
DITA Authoring
View the Hierarchy or Dependencies of References in DITA Resources
The Hierarchy/Dependencies view can now be used for DITA
resources to display the hierarchy or dependencies for DITA resources. It will show direct
references for DITA resources, such as maps and topics, as well as media resources that
are directly referenced in topics. For more details, see DITA Resource
Hierarchy/Dependencies View.
Quickly Search for Similar Topics
A new action (Find Similar Topics) is available in the
DITA menu that can be used to quickly find related topics that can be
added as related links.
Improved Behavior when Pasting Table Content
When copying a multiple selection of table cells and pasting them outside the
table, a new table will be created. When pasting into space-preserved elements, the cell
content will be pasted as plain text.
Specify that an Attribute only Accepts a Single Value in a Subject Scheme Map
You can now use outputclass="single_value" when binding an
attribute to a key in a Subject Scheme map to specify that a certain attribute only accepts a single
value at a time and the attribute will be presented in Oxygen with radio buttons
instead of checkboxes. Also, a validation error will be displayed if an attribute defined
to accept a single value has multiple values in the content.
Improvements When Searching References to Images
When searching for references to images, the reported results have been
improved. For example, if the image reference is defined with an href
attribute, all direct references to that image file are reported, but if it's defined with
a keyref attribute, all instances where the key is used are also
reported. Furthermore, if the image includes an id attribute, all links
to the specified ID will also be reported.
Visual Editing
More Highlighting Color Options
When highlighting content in the Author visual editing mode,
you now have more color options to choose from.
CSS
Support for CSS Level 3 Functions target-counter and target-counters
The CSS
level 3 functions target-counter and
target-counters are now fully supported as values for the
content property to retrieve counter values and display information
obtained from a target at the end of a link.
CSS-based PDF Publishing
New Option to Apply Framework CSS in the XML to PDF Transformation with CSS
The XML to PDF Transformation with CSS scenario now includes
an option to apply CSS stylesheets that are specified in the framework (in the Document
Type configuration CSS subtab). They are applied in addition to any CSS files referenced
directly in the document and any custom CSS specified in the CSS URL
field in the transformation scenario.
Generate TOC at the Beginning of Each Chapter
For the DITA Map to PDF - based on HTML5 & CSS
transformation scenario, a new parameter (args.chapter.layout) can be
used to generate a mini table of contents at the beginning of each chapter. For more
details, see Table of
Contents for Chapters (Mini TOC).
Support for Various Languages
The DITA Map to PDF - based on HTML5 & CSS transformation
scenario now supports numerous languages, including Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Spanish, and
more. You simply need to set the xml:lang attribute on the root map or
use the default.language parameter.
Style Topics Depending on Their Role
For the DITA Map to PDF - based on HTML5 & CSS
transformation scenario, the topicref class attribute values are passed
by the transformation process onto the corresponding topic elements from the merged map
content. You can use this to style topics with different roles, such as preface, notice,
abstract, or copyright.
New Deep Numbering Options
For the DITA Map to PDF - based on HTML5 & CSS
transformation scenario, two new numbering types are
now available that can be controlled by a transformation parameter. The
deep-chapter-scope parameter can be used to restart the numbering of
pages, figures, and tables at the beginning of each chapter (and adds the chapter number
to the titles of figures and tables). The
deep-chapter-scope-no-page-reset parameter is similar except page
numbers do not reset at each chapter.
HTML
Specialized HTML Editor
Oxygen now includes a specialized HTML editor with various
editing features for files that have the html or htm
file extensions. Features include a new document template, folding support, syntax
highlighting, and more.
Content Completion
The Content Completion Assistant offers proposals for elements, attributes, and
values that are valid at the current editing location, provides annotations for many of
the proposals, as well as links to the HTML5 specification.
Validation
Oxygen includes a built-in validator used for validating HTML documents.
It is based upon the W3C HTML Validator and the HTML documents are validated against the
W3C HTML5 specification.
Outline View
The specialized Outline view for HTML documents handles void elements or elements that are not
closed, and presents the tree structure of the HTML document correctly.
Encoding
For HTML documents, the encoding is detected automatically based on the value
specified in the charset attribute of the meta
element.
Content Completion
Show Content Completion Annotations in Various Languages
You can customize XML files that are used for annotations in the Content
Completion Assistant to display the annotations in various languages. For more details,
see the Translating Annotations section of Customizing
Annotations in the Content Completion Assistant.
Translation Support for Content Completion Annotations Using the ${i18n()} Function
When using a configuration file to customize the Content Completion Assistant,
you now have the ability to translate the annotations for elements using the
${i18n()} function.
Other
Improved Editor Variable Interpretations
The editor variable interpreter was enhanced. For example, when mixing editor
variables in XPath expressions, Oxygen now allows nested editor variables (such as
oxy_xpath + ask + answer).
Content Completion and Syntax Highlighting when Configuring Framework Actions
When configuring custom actions for frameworks in the Document Type
Configuration wizard, the Activation XPath editor now includes content
completion and syntax highlighting to make it easier to write the XPath
expressions.
XPath Function That Returns the Platform
When configuring custom actions for frameworks in the Document Type
Configuration wizard, you can write an activation XPath expression for each activation
context. A new XPath function oxy:platform() was added that returns the
current platform that Oxygen is running on. It can be used, for example, if you want
to enable or disable an action in the Author visual editing mode depending on the
platform.
API
Multiple JavaScript Modules Allowed in WorkspaceAccessJS Extension
JavaScript-based plugins can now include
multiple modules of JavaScript files in the plugin. You can declare functions
that can be used in the main WorkspaceAccessJS JavaScript file and use those external
script files as a library of functions.
Project API Improvements
The new API ProjectChangeListener can be used for notifications when
there are changes to the project (for example, when another project is opened). Also added
addProjectChangeListener, removeProjectChangeListener,
and getCurrentProjectURL methods in the ProjectController API.
UI Components Factory
The OxygenUIComponentsFactory API was added and it is meant for
easily creating UI components with the same appearance as the ones used in
Oxygen.
Set Initial Directory
The WorkspaceUtilities.chooseDirectory(File) API method was
added, and it can be used to browse for a specific directory, starting from an initial
one.
Faster Processing for API DITA Keys
The KeyDefinitionManager.isPassKeyTargetReferencesThroughXMLCatalogMappings
API method was added, and it can be used to avoid passing key reference URLs through XML
catalog URI mappings to speed up conversions when an external DITA keys resolver is being
used.
Component Updates
DITA Open Toolkit 3.3.1
Updated the bundled DITA Open Toolkit publishing engine to version
3.3.1.
Saxon Transformer Add-on 9.9.1.2
Updated the 9.9 version of the Saxon transformer
add-on to support Saxon version 9.9.1.1.
CSS Validator 1.0.4
Updated the W3C CSS Validator library to version 1.0.4.
JSON Everit Validation Engine 1.11.1
Updated the JSON Everit validation engine to 1.11.1.
eXist 4.6.0
Oxygen officially supports version 4.6.0 of the eXist
database.
Calabash 1.1.21
Updated the Calabash engine to version 1.1.21.