XML authoring tips and tricks

When you work in the Oxygen-based editor, make sure you understand the basics to easily create and edit structured DITA and DocBook documents in an XML data format.

When you open a document for editing, the file is locked so that other users can't make changes while you're working. When you save and submit your changes, the file is unlocked and ready for other users to edit. You can also choose to open a read-only copy of a document to keep it unlocked if you don't need to make changes.

The editor gives you a rich set of tools to develop your content, including ways to manage files, format text, track changes, and re-use content through links and key references. After you start working in the editor you can customize display options such as changing the font size and type, and enabling a screen reader for accessibility.

If you need to work with the XML elements in your document, the editor provides an outline panel on the left side to drag and drop nodes in the document structure. On the right side of the editor you can quickly define attributes and see if there are any validation errors in your document. If you want to see XML elements inline, you can show and hide them easily from an option on the toolbar.

You don't have to choose one way to edit a component. You can start out in Author mode, where you only see text and images, and switch to XML mode where you only see code.

To quickly switch between views:

  • In the XML or Authoring mode, use the keyboard shortcut keys Alt+fn+F5
  • In XML editing mode, click the Switch to Author mode button

Use the AI Assistant in the Oxygen Editor. An administrator can create an index so that authors and Inspire users can add data to it and build up the content for an AI-powered search.

  • If an administrator has created an index for submittals, Inspire automatically adds component content to the Submit index when authors Submit and Save a component in the Oxygen editor. Administrators can learn how by following the steps in Create AI index for Submit.
  • The more content you add to the Submit index the more an author can find and re-use content to avoid having to update duplicate content in multiple components. To learn how to manually add content to the Submit AI Index, follow the steps in Build an AI index from components.
  • You can use the AI-powered search in Oxygen to find content in all other components in Inspire that have been added to the Submit index.

    For more details, read Find content in the Oxygen AI Assistant pane.

If you want to search for text only in the current component you have open, you can use the Search tool in the right pane in the Oxygen editor. Follow the steps in Find and replace text in Oxygen.

If you want to search for text in multiple, specific components at once, you can use the Find and Replace option from the Components browser.

You must have specific permissions to use Find and Replace.

After you select a non-binary, unlocked file from the Components browser, you can look in the Selected Components pane for the snowflake icon.
  • This opens a screen that allows you to search and create a report on the number of times the search text appears.
  • You can also update a component without opening it by using the Replace option on the Find and Replace screen. Inspire creates a report showing you how many times the text was found and replaced.