What's New in Oxygen XML Web Author 22.0.0
February 12, 2020
Related version: 22.1.0
Version 22.0.0 of Oxygen XML Web Author is the latest major release for the innovative web-based authoring tool. The major focus of this release was to offer numerous productivity enhancements as well as various security and performance improvements.
Some examples of what is new in this release include general editing improvements to make it more efficient to insert XML markup, content references, or cross references, DITA users can expect a better behavior for certain keyboard shortcuts and a new action for defining DITA variables, the Markdown editor now includes toolbar actions and the possibility of real-time validation of against a custom Schematron file, and built-in support for the Chinese language.
General Editing improvements
Text-to-Markup Automatic Conversions
Some built-in frameworks have shortcut patterns that can be used to
automatically insert a certain XML structure. The XML structure (fragment) automatically
replaces a specific prefix pattern. For example, if you enter a hyphen (-) followed by a
space at the beginning of a paragraph in a DITA document, the prefix pattern is replaced
with an unordered list element (ul) with a child list item element
(li). Similarly, "Note:" will be converted to a
<note> element in DITA, and triple backticks to a
codeblock element.
Improvements to the Reuse Content and Cross Reference Dialog Boxes
When inserting content references, or cross references, the preview pane now
loads the whole document and you can select the element you want to reference straight
from the preview.
DITA
Improved Behavior for Keyboard Shortcuts in DITA Topics
When you choose to not show the content completion menu, the
Enter key now inserts a new paragraph in DITA topics. For empty
paragraphs, an inline insertion menu can be configured to easily insert the most common
DITA elements. Content completion can still be invoked using Ctrl+Enter.
The behavior of the Delete key was also improved to avoid placing the
cursor in horizontal positions between blocks.
Inline Insertion Actions
A new CSS style was added for DITA topics and it displays an inline button to
the left of empty paragraphs. Clicking the button allows you to quickly insert elements at
that position.
Dedicated Action to Define DITA Variables
While DITA variables are a very powerful content reuse tool, the underlying XML
structure is complicated. Now it is easier to insert a variable definition using a
dedicated toolbar action. Rendering of these variables has also been
simplified.
DocBook
Toolbar Actions to Insert XInclude and Links
It is now easier to reuse content in DocBook documents. Specialized dialog
boxes were added to make it easier to choose elements to XInclude or insert
links.
Markdown
Toolbar Actions to Insert Markup
Web Author now has a toolbar with actions that make it easy to insert the most
common markup structures without having to remember the exact syntax.
Schematron Validation
Web Author supports real-time validation of Markdown documents against a style
guide by using a custom Schematron file.
Security
Built-in Firewall
It is now possible to restrict the hosts that the Web Author server is allowed
to connect to. This can be done directly in the Administration
page.
Stricter Policy for CSS Evaluation
CSS code is now loaded only when it comes from a trusted location. Such trusted
locations are frameworks, plugins, or other locations configured in the
Administration page.
Other
Built-in Support for the Chinese Language
The Chinese language was added to the list of built-in supported languages for
the interface. Web Author also supports writing content in Chinese using the
platform-specific IME. Grammar checking for simplified Chinese can also be enabled by
using a plugin: https://www.oxygenxml.com/maven/com/oxygenxml/languagetool-plugin/.
Performance
Loading large documents was improved by progressively rendering the content
after the document is loaded. Other performance improvements were implemented. For
example, when typing with the Track Changes feature enabled or loading
documents from Git repositories.
API and Customization
Choose Schematron Phase
A Schematron file can define multiple phases and, by default, Web Author
executes all of them. Now, it is possible to use the
ro.sync.ecss.extensions.api.webapp.WebappSchematronPhaseChooser API to
choose which phase to execute.
Change the Context of a DITA Topic Without Reloading the Editor
The sync.api.EditingContextManager and
ro.sync.servlet.operation.SetDitaMapOperation APIs can now be used to
change the current DITA editing context that is composed of a DITA map and DITAVAL
filtering file.
API to Trigger a Save Operation
The sync.api.Editor.triggerSave API was added to allow an
integration developer to trigger a save of the current document to ensure the copy in the
CMS is up-to-date.
API to improve performance of an EntityResolver
The ro.sync.exml.workspace.api.util.EntityUrlResolver
interface that extends org.xml.sax.EntityResolver was added to allow the
implementation to receive a special callback when Web Author is not interested in the
content of the resolved entity, just in its URL. This method can be more efficient than
the resolveEntity method in the parent interface.