Author XML content

You can use the Oxygen-based editor to easily create and edit structured DITA and DocBook documents in an XML data format. The Oxygen editor facilitates content reuse, conditional text, and publishing to various formats like PDF, HTML, and WebHelp.

In the Oxygen editor you can work in two different modes, or views:

  • Author mode: By default, the editor opens in a graphic user interface where you can see the text and images that are used in the component. You can insert images and format text using buttons on a toolbar and Inspire inserts the XML code around it.
    • In Author mode, the XML code that structures the document and formats the content is hidden.
    • Side panels can be opened to show more details about elements, attributes, comments, and root maps.
    • If you don't want to edit any of the XML structure, you can hide the tags and side panels to focus on your text in the central editing pane.

    Work in Author mode

  • Edit XML source mode: lets you directly edit XML code and text within elements.
    • You only see text surrounded by tags.
    • This is helpful if you only want to focus on editing the document structure or formatting and don't need to see images.
    • You can hide attribute IDs to make authoring easier by showing more text and less code.
    • When attribute IDs are hidden, element tags and link references are still displayed.
    • You can select the Hide Ids button to show attribute IDs again.

    Work in XML mode

You can quickly Switch between Author and XML mode. If you want to edit text and images using both a code interface and a graphical interface, you can easily switch between modes.

Oxygen supports the following types of content for editing:

  • DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture) topics
  • DocBook content
  • Markdown files: After you import a markdown file as component, you can edit the content even though it's stored as a Binary file. Follow the steps in Open a markdown component for editing

If you are not working in a collaborative Review, your ability to access the following Oxygen features can be configured by an administrator:

  • Change tracking: an Oxygen feature that records and displays edits made to a component, such as insertions, deletions, and formatting changes, allowing users to see the history of revisions and to accept or reject them.

    By default:

    • The Change Tracking option is not turned on the in Oxygen editor.
    • You can make changes to text and they are NOT highlighted.
    • You can turn Change Tracking on.

    An administrator can force Change tracking to work in one of the following ways for specific users and roles:

    • Force Change Tracking to stay on: All changes are highlighted and Change Tracking cannot be turned off.
    • Force Change tracking to stay off: No changes are highlighted, and Change Tracking cannot be turned on.
  • Accept and reject changes: Users can go through each proposed change and either accept it to incorporate it into the text or reject it to keep the text as it was before the change.

    By default:

    • All users can see and use the Accept and Reject action buttons, including on the toolbar and in the right-click menu
    • All users can see and use the Accept All and Reject All buttons at the bottom of the Review pane

    An administrator can disable the use of these Accept and Reject options for specific users and roles.

  • Delete another user's comments: Oxygen provides a collaboration tool in the Review pane that attaches a comment to a specific piece of text so you can provide feedback, ask questions, or submit ideas without altering the actual content.

    By default: The Remove button is NOT active in a comment when the current user editing the component did not create the comment.

    An administrator can allow specific users and roles to delete another user's comment.

  • Edit the XML source code directly: Direct source editing provides complete control over every element, attribute, and character within the XML structure. This level of precision is often necessary for complex configurations, schema adherence, or fine-tuning.

    By default: Any user can select the More... menu, and then Edit XML Source.

    An administrator can hide the Edit XML Source option for specific users and roles.

Administrators can follow the steps in: Grant permissions to options in Oxygen.