XHTML Author Mode Actions

A variety of actions are available in the XHTML framework that can be added to the XHTML menu, the Author Custom Actions toolbar, the contextual menu, and the Content Completion Assistant.

XHTML Toolbar Actions

The following default actions are readily available on the XHTML (Author Custom Actions) toolbar when editing in Author mode (by default, they are also available in the XHTML menu and some of them are in various submenus of the contextual menu):

Bold

Changes the style of the selected text to bold by surrounding it with b tag. You can use this action on multiple non-contiguous selections.

Italic

Changes the style of the selected text to italic by surrounding it with i tag. You can use this action on multiple non-contiguous selections.

Underline

Changes the style of the selected text to underline by surrounding it with u tag. You can use this action on multiple non-contiguous selections.

Link

Inserts an a element with an href attribute at the cursor position. You can type the URL of the reference you want to insert or use the

Browse drop-down menu to select it using one of the following options:

Browse for local file - Displays the Open dialog box to select a local file.
Browse for remote file - Displays the Open URL dialog box to select a remote file.
Browse for archived file - Opens the Archive Browser to select a file from an archive.
Browse Data Source Explorer - Open the Data Source Explorer to select a file from a connected data source.
Search for file - Opens the Find Resource dialog box to search for a file.

Insert Image

Inserts a graphic object at the cursor position. This is done by inserting an img element regardless of the current context. The following graphical formats are supported: GIF, JPG, JPEG, BMP, PNG, SVG.

Headings Drop-down Menu

A drop-down menu that includes actions for inserting h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6 elements.

Insert Paragraph

Insert a new paragraph element at current cursor position.

Insert Equation

Opens the XML Fragment Editor that allows you to insert and edit MathML notations.

Insert List Item

Inserts a list item in the current list type.

Insert Unordered List

Inserts an unordered list at the cursor position. A child list item is also automatically inserted by default. You can also use this action to convert selected paragraphs or other types of lists to an unordered list.

Insert Ordered List

Inserts an ordered list at the cursor position. A child list item is also automatically inserted by default. You can also use this action to convert selected paragraphs or other types of lists to an ordered list.

Insert a definition list at the cursor position

Inserts a definition list (dl element) with one list item (a dt child element and a dd child element). You can also use this action to convert selected paragraphs or other types of lists to a definition list.

Sort

Sorts cells or list items in a table.

Insert Table

Opens a dialog box that allows you to configure and insert a table. You can generate a header and footer, set the number of rows and columns of the table and decide how the table is framed. You can also use this action to convert selected paragraphs, lists, and inline content (mixed content — text + markup — that is rendered inside a block element) into a table, with the selected content inserted in the first column, starting from the first row after the header (if a header is inserted).

Note

If the selection contains a mixture of elements that cannot be converted, you will receive an error message saying that Only lists, paragraphs, or inline content can be converted to tables.

Insert Row Below

Inserts a new table row with empty cells below the current row. This action is available when the cursor is positioned inside a table.

Insert Row Above

Inserts a new table row with empty cells above the current row. This action is available when the cursor is positioned inside a table.

Insert Column After

Inserts a new table column with empty cells after the current column. This action is available when the cursor is positioned inside a table.

Insert Cell

Inserts a new empty cell depending on the current context. If the cursor is positioned between two cells, Oxygen XML Author plugin a new cell at cursor position. If the cursor is inside a cell, the new cell is created after the current cell.

Delete Column(s)

Deletes the table column located at cursor position or multiple columns in a selection.

Delete Row(s)

Deletes the table row located at cursor position or multiple rows in a selection.

Join Cells

Joins the content of the selected cells (both horizontally and vertically).

Split Cell

Splits the cell at the cursor location. If Oxygen XML Author plugin detects more than one option to split the cell, a dialog box will be displayed that allows you to select the number of rows or columns to split the cell into.

XHTML Menu Actions

In addition, the following default actions are available in the XHTML menu when editing in Author mode (some of them are also available in the contextual menu):

Table submenu

In addition to the table actions available on the toolbar, the following actions are available in this submenu:

Insert Rows: Opens a dialog box that allows you to insert any number of rows and specify the position where they will be inserted (Above or Below the current row).
Insert Column Before: Inserts a column before the current one.
Insert Columns: Opens a dialog box that allows you to insert any number of columns and specify the position where they will be inserted (Above or Below the current column).

Refresh References

You can use this action to manually trigger a refresh and update of all referenced resources.

Tags display mode Submenu

Full Tags with Attributes: Displays full tag names with attributes for both block level and in-line level elements.
Full Tags: Displays full tag names without attributes for both block level and in-line level elements.
Block Tags: Displays full tag names for block level elements and simple tags without names for in-line level elements.
Inline Tags: Displays full tag names for inline level elements, while block level elements are not displayed.
Partial Tags: Displays simple tags without names for in-line level elements, while block level elements are not displayed.
No Tags: No tags are displayed. This is the most compact mode and is as close as possible to a word-processor view.
Configure Tags Display Mode: Use this option to go to the Author preferences page where you can configure the Tags Display Mode options.

Profiling/Conditional Text Submenu

Edit Profiling Attributes: Allows you to configure the profiling attributes and their values.
Show Profiling Colors and Styles: Select this option to turn on conditional styling.
Show Profiling Attributes: Select this option to turn on conditional text markers. They are displayed at the end of conditional text blocks, as a list of attribute name and their currently set values.
Show Excluded Content: When this option is enabled, the content filtered by the currently applied condition set is grayed-out. To show only the content that matches the currently applied condition set, disable this option.
List of all profiling condition sets that match the current document type: You can click a listed condition set to activate it.
Profiling Settings: Opens the profiling options preferences page, where you can manage profiling attributes and profiling conditions sets. You can also configure the profiling styles and colors options from the colors/styles preferences page and the attributes rendering preferences page.

XHTML Contextual Menu Actions

In addition to many of the XHTML toolbar actions and the general Author mode contextual menu actions, the following XHTML framework-specific actions are also available in the contextual menu when editing in Author mode:

Image Map Editor

This action is available in the contextual menu when it is invoked on an image. This action applies an image map to the current image (if one does not already exist) and opens the Image Map Editor dialog box. This feature allows you to create hyperlinks in specific areas of an image that will link to various destinations.

Table Actions

The following table editing actions are available in the contextual menu when it is invoked on a table:

Insert Rows: Opens a dialog box that allows you to insert any number of rows and specify the position where they will be inserted (Above or Below the current row).
Delete Row(s): Deletes the table row located at cursor position or multiple rows in a selection.
Insert Columns: Opens a dialog box that allows you to insert any number of columns and specify the position where they will be inserted (Above or Below the current column).
Delete Column(s): Deletes the table column located at cursor position or multiple columns in a selection.
Join Cells: Joins the content of the selected cells (both horizontally and vertically).
Split Cell: Splits the cell at the cursor location. If Oxygen XML Author plugin detects more than one option to split the cell, a dialog box will be displayed that allows you to select the number of rows or columns to split the cell into.
Sort: Sorts cells or list items in a table.
Table Properties: Opens the Table properties dialog box that allows you to configure properties of a table (such as frame borders).
Other Actions submenu: This submenu give you access to all the usual contextual menu actions.

XHTML Drag/Drop Actions

Dragging a file from the Navigator view or DITA Maps Manager view and dropping it into an XHTML document that is edited in Author mode creates a link to the dragged file (the a element with the href attribute) at the drop location. Dragging an image file from the default file system application (Windows Explorer on Windows or Finder on Mac OS X, for example) and dropping it into an XHTML document inserts an image element (the img element with the src attribute) at the drop location, similar to the Insert Image toolbar action.