Complete one of the following sets of steps, depending on whether you want to use the Simplified view or Advanced view in the Stylesheet Editor.
- Simplified The Simplified view is better for new users. It provides an easier way to apply properties to styles, with format options available from a toolbar (similar to the way one would use the Text Format toolbar to change the look topic content without a style). In many cases, only the most common property options are available in the Simplified view (e.g., font, letter/word spacing, paragraph alignment/indentation, auto-numbering format, borders, background). One advantage of the Simplified view is that you can apply a property to multiple styles at the same time. You can also click a check box to hide the properties in the editor, allowing you to see only the styles.
- Advanced The Advanced view displays style classes and properties in hierarchical tree structures. It is not as quick as using the Simplified view, but it allows you to edit a great deal more settings than are available in the Simplified view.
Warning: When editing styles, make sure the proper medium is selected in the Stylesheet Editor before you begin (you can do this from the Medium drop-down list). Flare remembers the last medium that you used when working in the style sheet, so it may or may not be the one that you want to use the next time around. If you want all mediums to use the same setting, select the "default" medium and the properties will "trickle down" to the other mediums. If you are not using different mediums, you do not need to worry about selecting one when you edit styles.
Note: In addition to the many properties that can be set in either the Simplified or Advanced view, there is a special "mc-dita-type" property that lets you change the default value for a DITA element when you generate output. This property can be changed only in the Advanced view.
For example, DITA lets you specify two different kinds of tables—table and simpletable. Table is the default type. If you intend to generate DITA output from Flare and want to use the simpletable type instead of the table, you would use the following steps to select the appropriate style class, locate the mc-dita-type property, and type simpletable in the value field.
For more details, see the following steps under "If using the Advanced view."
If using the Simplified view:
- In the local toolbar, make sure the first button displays
(which means that the Simplified view is currently shown in the editor). If the button displays 
instead, then click it. - (Optional) You can click in the Show Styles field
in the upper-left corner of the Stylesheet Editor to limit which styles are shown in the editor. For example, if you select Show All Styles, then all styles will be displayed. If you select Show Paragraph Styles, only paragraph styles will be displayed. If you select Show Table Styles, only table styles will be displayed. - From the grid in the bottom portion of the Stylesheet Editor, select a style.
- In the local toolbar of the editor, click
. The Properties dialog opens. - Use the Properties dialog to change values for the style's properties.
- In the Properties dialog, click OK.
If using the Advanced view:
- In the local toolbar, make sure the first button displays (which means that the Advanced view is currently shown in the editor). If the button displays instead, then click it.
- (Optional) You can click in the Show Styles drop-down list in the upper-left corner of the Stylesheet Editor to limit which styles are shown in the editor. For example, if you select Show All Styles, then all styles will be displayed. If you select Show Paragraph Styles, then only paragraph styles will be displayed. If you select Show Table Styles, then only table styles will be displayed.
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In the Styles section of the editor, select the style that you want to edit.
Note: If you want to limit the list of styles to only those that you tend to use in your project, you can disable the styles that you do not want to see. This does not delete those styles; it merely hides them from view. See Disabling Styles.
- From the Show Properties drop-down list
on the upper-right side of the editor, select any of the options shown to determine which properties are displayed below. This is simply a way to find the appropriate property as quickly as possible.- Assorted Relevant Properties Displays the property groups that are used most often for the selected style type.
- Property Groups Displays all the different groups holding the properties for the selected style. Property groups are simply a way to organize the properties so that they are easy for you to find. If you want to see the values for a given property group, click the plus button
next to it. - Alphabetical List Displays all of the properties
- Set Properties Displays all properties that have been set for the style.
- Set (Locally) Properties Displays properties that have been set for the selected style directly in one or more topics. In other words, the global setting for that particular style has been overruled in some topic(s) within the project.
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In the Properties section, locate the specific property that you want to change.
The property name is shown in the left column. The right column is used for selecting and entering values for the property.
Note: If you want to a edit the special "mc-dita-type" property for a style, click the plus button
next to the DITA property group. The mc-dita-type property is shown under it.
- Click in the value column on the right side. Depending on the type of property, you can either type the value, select it from a drop-down list, or complete the values in a dialog or popup box.
If you completed values in a popup, click OK at the bottom of the box.
As you make changes to a property's values, you can see how the changes look in the Preview section at the bottom of the editor.
Note: If you want to a edit the special "mc-dita-type" property for a style, it is probably easiest to select Property Groups.
to save your work.
See Also