Generating IDs for Elements in Author Mode
Oxygen XML Developer plugin allows you to manually assign or edit values of id
attributes in Author mode by using the Attributes View or an in-place attribute
editor. Oxygen XML Developer plugin also includes mechanisms to generate ID values for
elements, either on-request or automatically, in DITA, DocBook, or TEI documents.
Generate IDs On-Request
You can generate ID values for specific elements on-request. To do so, select the element for which you want to generate an ID (or place the cursor inside the element) and select the Generate IDs action from the contextual menu or the framework-specific menu (DITA, DocBook, or TEI). This action generates a unique ID for the current element. If you invoke the action on a block of selected content, the action will generate IDs for all top-level elements and elements that are listed in the ID Options dialog box that are found in the current selection.
Note
Automatically Generate IDs
Oxygen XML Developer plugin includes an option to automatically add unique ID values to certain elements when they are created in Author mode. The Auto generate IDs for elements option can be found in the ID Options dialog box that is displayed when you select the ID Options action from the framework-specific menu (DITA, DocBook, or TEI). If enabled, Oxygen XML Developer plugin automatically generates unique ID values for elements that are listed in this dialog box. You can use this dialog box to customize the format of the ID values and choose which elements will have their ID values automatically generated (for example, you can customize the list of elements to include those that you most often need to identify).
ID Options Dialog Box
The ID Options dialog box allows you to configure the following options in regards to generating ID values:
Duplicating Elements with Existing IDs
If you duplicate elements with existing IDs (for example, through copy/paste or drag/drop actions), all IDs are removed at the resolution of the operation. However, you can use the options in the ID Options dialog box to change this behavior. The options in this dialog box affect duplicated elements with existing IDs in the following ways:
Note
- If the Auto generate IDs for elements option is enabled and you duplicate elements with existing IDs, Oxygen XML Developer plugin assigns new, unique ID values to the duplicates.
- If the Auto generate IDs for elements option is disabled and you duplicate elements with existing IDs, the ID values are removed from the duplicates. However, when elements are duplicated in the same document, this option has no effect and IDs are preserved if the Remove IDs when copying content in the same document option is disabled.
- If the Remove IDs when copying content in the same document option is enabled, the ID values are removed from elements that are duplicated in the same document. However, enabling this option has no effect if the Auto generate IDs for elements option is enabled.
- If the Remove IDs when copying content in the same document option is disabled, the ID values are preserved when elements are duplicated in the same document. This option has no affect on elements that are duplicated in other documents.
Controlling the Default ID Generation Options
It is possible to configure the default ID generation options for DITA, DocBook, and
TEI
frameworks. In the frameworks folder for each of those document types,
there is an XML configuration file called
idGenerationDefaultOptions.xml that contains the default settings for
generating IDs in each particular type of document. To configure the default settings,
you
can edit this file and save it back to the same directory.
The configuration file can be found in the resources folder within the
particular framework. For example, the configuration file for the DITA framework is
located
in: [OXYGEN_INSTALL_DIR]/frameworks/dita/resources/idGenerationDefaultOptions.xml.
If you want to share your configured default ID generation settings with other member of your team, follow these steps:
- Configure the
idGenerationDefaultOptions.xmlfile for your framework according to your needs. - Bundle a modified version of the entire framework folder (for example,
[OXYGEN_INSTALL_DIR]/frameworks/dita/). To do this:- Open the Preferences dialog box and go to Document Type Association.
- Select your framework and click the Extend button.
- In the Document type configuration dialog box that is
now displayed, select External for the
Storage option. By default, this will save the extension
in a new folder in the
frameworksfolder (for example,[OXYGEN_INSTALL_DIR]/frameworks/dita-extension (1)), but you can also use the
Browse button to
specify a specific name and folder.
- In this new extension folder, create a new folder called
resourcesand add your modifiedidGenerationDefaultOptions.xmlfile to this newresourcesfolder. - Go back to the Document Type Association preferences page, select the extended framework, and click Edit.
- Go to the Classpath tab, add a reference to your new
resourcesfolder, and move this reference up (using the
Move
Up button) so that it is the first one that appears in the
list.
- Click OK and exit out of the preferences page.
- Distribute your newly extended folder to other team members by using one of the methods described in Sharing a Document Type (Framework).