XML Editor

As you are working on a topic, it is likely that you will want to know what it will look like in the final output, as well as test navigation links and condition tags. There are two ways to do this. First, you could build the output and then view the output. However, this requires you to perform multiple steps and wait for the entire target to generate. A quicker way to see how a topic looks in the output is to preview just that topic by opening it in a preview window. This button lets you preview the topic. It also lets you see how the topic will look with condition tags associated with it.

Opens and closes the Text Format Toolbar, which provides you with additional tools for formatting the content directly. For more information about the options in the Text Format Toolbar, see Local Formatting.

Opens the Review toolbar, which lets you perform various tasks related to topic reviews and annotations. See About Topic Reviews and Contributions.

Clicking this button lets you toggle between the Web Layout mode and the Print Layout mode (see About Layout Modes). If you select the down arrow, a submenu lets you choose between the following options:

• Web Layout This is useful for seeing how the topic will look online. It displays your content without showing any headers or footers from a page layout. See About Layout Modes.

• Print Layout This lets you see how the pages will look with a page layout applied to it. In other words, it lets you see how the page will look when you generate print-based output. This means that you will be able to view the actual page size and orientation, as well as the margins and any header or footer content. See About Page Layouts and About Layout Modes.

  Note: Although the Print Layout mode is a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) environment, you also need to consider any condition tags when you are viewing pages in this mode. For example, let's say you have applied a condition tag to an entire paragraph on a page. When you are viewing the topic in the XML Editor, you will see this paragraph, but if you generate a target where you have elected to exclude that condition tag, the paragraph will not be displayed in the output, and the other paragraphs will shift to compensate for its absence. Therefore, what you see in the Print Layout mode is what you get, except possibly for certain conditions that may be present on a page.

• Edit Page Layout Document This opens the page layout associated with the topic so that you can edit it in the Page Layout Editor. See Adding Pages.

• Edit Master Stylesheet This opens the style sheet associated with the topic so that you can edit it in the Stylesheet Editor. See Editing Styles.

  Note: This option is available only if you have applied a master style sheet to the project or target.

A medium is an alternative set of styles in a style sheet that you use for different outputs. They are intended to be an exception to the default style you want to use. Clicking the down arrow on this button lets you select a medium so that you can view the topic with the styles from a specific medium. For more information about mediums, see Selecting Style Sheet Mediums.

When you switch from Web Layout mode to Print Layout mode, the medium automatically changes with it ("default" medium for Web Layout mode and "print" medium for Print Layout mode). This means that the editor will show the content in the style associated with that medium. Therefore, if you want to see a different medium (e.g., default, non-print) for that topic, you must select it from the Medium drop-down in the XML Editor toolbar. See About Style Sheet Mediums.

There are multiple methods for inserting index keywords into topics and creating an index for your output. One method is to use Index Entry Mode. With this method, you do not need to move your cursor from the topic to the Index window pane to add index keywords. You simply click at the spot in the text where you want to insert the keyword and start typing. The words you type are added directly into the Index window pane. This is a good method to use if you plan to do a lot of indexing all at once, without performing any other tasks in the topic. This button lets you turn the Index Entry Mode on and off. See Inserting Index Keywords.

Opens the Insert Hyperlink dialog, which lets you insert a text hyperlink on the selected text in the topic.

Opens the Insert Cross-Reference dialog, which lets you insert a cross-reference into the topic at the location of the cursor.

Opens a dialog that lets you insert an image at the location of the cursor.

Lets you insert special characters or symbols (e.g., a non-breaking space, a copyright symbol, an ellipsis, a monetary symbol) into the editor or window pane. If you click the -a- portion of the tag, the specific quick character that you have specified is inserted. If you click the down arrow, you can select one of the following options:

• Select 'Quick Character' Opens the Quick Character dialog, which lets you specify a quick character. That character or symbol will then be associated with the Quick Character button. In other words, if there is a particular character or symbol that you use in topics quite frequently, you can select it as the quick character. Whenever you click the Quick Character button, that specific character or symbol will be inserted. This feature is also a way to insert characters or symbols that are not included in the basic list (each of which is described below).
• Quick Character Inserts the quick character into the topic. You can also accomplish this by clicking the -a- portion of the button or by pressing F11 on your keyboard.
• Non-breaking Space Inserts a non-breaking space into the topic. This is a special space character that prevents an automatic line break (line wrap) at its position. Also known as a hard space or fixed space, it can be used to create multiple spaces in a row. You can also insert a non-breaking space by pressing SHIFT+SPACE on your keyboard.
• Copyright Inserts a copyright symbol (©) into a topic.
• Registered Trademark Inserts a registered trademark symbol (®) into a topic.
• Trademark Inserts a trademark symbol (™) into a topic.
• Degree Inserts a degree symbol (°) into a topic.
• Bullet Inserts a round black bullet (•) into a topic.
• Double Dagger Inserts a double dagger symbol (‡) into a topic.
• Ellipses Inserts an ellipsis (…) into a topic. This is a better method for creating an ellipsis than typing three periods in a row. If you use this symbol, the Find and Replace feature will not find the repeated periods and consider them a mistake.
• N Dash Inserts an n-dash (–), or en dash, into a topic.
• M Dash Inserts an m-dash (—), or em dash, into a topic.
• Plus/Minus Inserts a plus/minus symbol (±) into a topic.
• Greater or Equal Inserts a combined "greater or equal" symbol (≥) into a topic.
• Not Equal Inserts a "not equal" symbol (≠) into a topic.
• Cent Inserts a cent monetary symbol (¢) into a topic.
• Euro Inserts a euro monetary symbol (€) into a topic.
• Pound Inserts a pound monetary symbol (£) into a topic.
• Yen Inserts a yen monetary symbol (¥) into a topic.

Turns paragraph and space markers on and off. When you turn this feature on, you can see markers that show where paragraphs end and where space exists before and after content.

If you click the <t> portion of this button, all of the content changes, showing the XML tags surrounding the content. If you click the down arrow, you can select the following options:

• Show Caret Tag Neighborhood Turns this feature on and off.

  The interface includes a "caret tag neighborhood." If you click on a line that contains inline tags (e.g., bold font, cross-reference), floating tag bars display above it. You can click on a bar to open the context menu and take action on the content.

  

• Show Markers Turns markers on or off in the active topic or other content file. If you have inserted elements such as variables, bookmarks, index keywords, or concepts into topics, markers indicate where they have been added. If the "Markers" option is turned off, you cannot determine whether such elements have been added. Turning the "Markers" on, lets you see exactly what has been inserted into the file. Markers appear in different ways, depending on the type of element inserted. For example, variable markers display as brackets around the variable information, whereas bookmark markers display as shaded flags where the bookmark has been inserted.

  
  

• Show invisible tags Turns invisible tags (e.g., <title>) on or off in the active topic. This option is enabled only if you have selected "Show tags."
  
• Show Comments Turns comment tags on or off in the active topic. Comment tags are those that you have added to a topic in order include notes behind the scenes (without the comments being seen in the output).
  
• Show All Images As Thumbnails Lets you show or hide images in your project as thumbnails. This is simply a feature for you as the author, allowing you to scale all images down to 48 pixels high (if the original size is larger than that). This lets you see more content and less of your images as you edit topics. The images are only scaled for your editing purposes; they are not necessarily shown as thumbnails in the output. See Showing Images as Thumbnails While Editing.
• Show tags in mono-color Lets you choose whether to display tags in a color or in black. This option is enabled only if you have selected "Show tags."
  
• Show tags in mono-font Lets you choose whether to display all tags in the same font or in the font actually applied to each area. This option is enabled only if you have selected "Show tags."
• Enable Object Positioning Turns object positioning on and off. Object positioning can be used with text boxes, images, and other objects that you have inserted into topics. If this option is on, you can easily position the object in different places in the topic (e.g., to the right or left of the frame on a page). See About Object Positioning.
• Enable Orphan/Widow Control Turns widow and orphan control on or off. If this is turned on, you can see the effects in the Print Layout mode in the XML Editor. Widow control determines the minimum number of lines in a paragraph to be left at the top of a page or column. Orphan control determines the minimum number of lines in a paragraph to be left at the bottom of a page or column. The default number of lines for both is 2, but you can adjust this setting. See About Widows and Orphans and Setting Widow and Orphan Control.
• Show Hidden Elements Shows content that has been designated as "hidden." In other words, you can have a style where the "display" property value is set to "none." Normally, content to which this style is applied will not be seen. But you can display that content by selecting this option.
• Show Conditional Indicators If you have created and applied condition tags, clicking this button toggles between showing and hiding them.
  

• Show Variable Names Lets you choose whether to see the names of variables in your markers (if you have inserted variables) in the active topic.

  
  

• Highlight Variables Lets you choose whether to see a gray background behind variable definitions in a topic.

  
  

• Show Bookmark Names Lets you choose whether to see the names of bookmarks in your markers (if you have inserted bookmarks) in the active topic.
  

• Show Inline Markers You can show or hide markers for all inline elements in the active topic. You might find this feature useful if you have imported DITA file content. The reason for this is that DITA inline tags are often for semantic purposes, rather than for changing the look of content. By enabling the inline markers feature, it is easy to tell when particular content is using a tag.

  example
  

  Here is an example where a paragraph contains two pieces of content that use inline tags—one that changes the presentation, and the other that does not.

  

  

  

  Note: In order to use this feature, you must also make sure that Show Markers is turned on.

• Show Named Elements Lets you choose whether to see the yellow flag icon next to named elements in your markers (if you have inserted named elements) in the active topic. Named elements are used for inserting togglers into topics.
  
• Locks (Disabled/Enabled) Locks or unlocks the content designated with the gray background. After content has been locked, it cannot be edited, and annotations cannot be added to it. See Locking Elements.
• Show Locked Elements Allows you to show or hide the gray background associated with elements that have been locked or selected to be locked. See Locking Elements.
• Show Annotations Displays any annotations (notes) that have been attached to any content in the topic. See About Topic Reviews and Contributions.
• Marker Width Lets you adjust the width of markers in the active topic to see more or less of the markers when they are visible.

Reduces the scale of the font by 10% each time you click the button.

Resets the scale of the font to 100%.

Increases the scale of the font by 10% each time you click the button.

Lets you select a specific percentage to scale the font.

Lets you show or hide the colored shading of content to which condition tags have been applied.

example

Let's say your condition tag has blue associated with it and you have applied this tag to a block of content. When you click this button to show the indicator, the block of content becomes shaded with a lighter version of blue. If more than one condition tag is applied to the block of content, the shading appears in a pattern that shows all of the applied condition tag colors.

For more information see About Condition Tags.

Lets you show or hide the tag block bars. These bars are displayed to the left of the content area. They show the different tags for your chunks of content, as well as the overall tag structure. See About Structure Bars.

Lets you show or hide the span bars. These bars are displayed at the top of the content area. They show formatting tags in your content.

example

If you have a block of text that is bold and you click it, you will see a "b" in a bar above.

See About Structure Bars.

Lets you show or hide the table row bars. These bars are displayed to the left of the content area. If you have a table, these bars represent each of the rows. You can easily resize the rows by dragging the edge of the bar up or down, and you can rearrange rows by clicking and dragging a row up or down. See About Structure Bars.

Lets you show or hide the table column bars. These bars are displayed at the top of the content area. If you have a table, these bars represent each of the columns. You can easily resize the columns by dragging the edge of the bar left or right, and you can rearrange the columns by clicking and dragging a column to the left or right. See About Structure Bars.

Lets you show or hide a measurement ruler horizontally at the top of the editor or window pane. If you click the ruler after it is opened, you can select to convert the ruler to pixels, points, centimeters, or inches.

Displays the first page of the topic in Print Layout mode.

Displays the previous page of the topic in Print Layout mode.

Displays the next page of the topic in Print Layout mode.

Displays the last page of the topic in Print Layout mode.

Displays the current page of the topic, as well as the total number of pages in the topic. You can enter another number in the field or use the arrow buttons to navigate to a different page.

The Zoom/Scale button (which looks different depending on the current selection) opens a drop-down menu so that you can select from the following options:

• 100% Displays the page at 100% of its actual size
• 100% (2 pages) Shows two pages of a topic at a time, displaying each one at 100%.
• Fit Width Resizes the page so that it displays in proportion to the width of the editor window pane.
• One Page Displays only one page at a time.
• Two Pages Displays two pages at a time.
• Four Pages Displays three pages at a time.
• Eight Pages Displays four pages at a time.

Note: This option is available only if you are working in Print Layout mode. In this mode, additional pages are automatically created when you add content beyond that which can be held on a single page.

Lets you show or hide the colored shading of content to which condition tags have been applied.

example

Let's say your condition tag has blue associated with it and you have applied this tag to a block of content. When you click this button to show the indicator, the block of content becomes shaded with a lighter version of blue. If more than one condition tag is applied to the block of content, the shading appears in a pattern that shows all of the applied condition tag colors.

For more information see About Condition Tags.

Lets you show or hide the tag block bars. These bars are displayed to the left of the content area. They show the different tags for your chunks of content, as well as the overall tag structure. See About Structure Bars.

Lets you show or hide the span bars. These bars are displayed at the top of the content area. They show formatting tags in your content.

example

If you have a block of text that is bold and you click it, you will see a "b" in a bar above.

See About Structure Bars.

Lets you show or hide the table row bars. These bars are displayed to the left of the content area. If you have a table, these bars represent each of the rows. You can easily resize the rows by dragging the edge of the bar up or down, and you can rearrange rows by clicking and dragging a row up or down. See About Structure Bars.

Lets you show or hide the table column bars. These bars are displayed at the top of the content area. If you have a table, these bars represent each of the columns. You can easily resize the columns by dragging the edge of the bar left or right, and you can rearrange the columns by clicking and dragging a column to the left or right. See About Structure Bars.

Lets you show or hide a measurement ruler horizontally at the top of the editor or window pane. If you click the ruler after it is opened, you can select to convert the ruler to pixels, points, centimeters, or inches.

These are just what the name implies—bars around the topic content that show the structure. There are four kinds of structure bars (tag, span, table row, table column).

Not only do structure bars let you see the tags for content, but you can also perform numerous tasks by using them. If you right-click on a structure bar, a context menu opens. From the menu, you can select from several options to take action on the content associated with that structure bar.

example

If you want to delete an entire numbered list from a topic, you could right-click the <ol> tag bar to the left of the content and select Delete from the menu.

If you left-click on a structure bar, the corresponding content is selected in the editor.

Also, if you left-click on a structure bar, you can drag the bar up or down (tag bars and table row bars), or to the left or right (span bars and table column bars). In this way, the chunks of topic content and the table rows/columns can easily be repositioned. In addition, you can click on the borders between column and row bars and drag the mouse to resize individual columns and rows. (Span bars, however, cannot be moved by dragging.) See Moving Paragraphs and Other Content with Structure Bars, Moving Table Columns and Rows, and Resizing Tables.

See About Structure Bars.

To see demonstrations of structure bars, see  Movie - Structure Bars.

A marker is a highlighted "flag" that shows the insertion of certain features. For example, if you insert a variable, bookmark, or index keyword, a marker indicates where that feature has been inserted. You can adjust marker widths or turn them off or on by using the "Show tags" button in the local toolbar. (Despite the name of this button, it does not display the "true code" in the topic. It shows the high-level tags and the tag markers.)

When you edit text, the cursor changes size and shape. Sometimes it contains brackets to the right or left. Sometimes it is larger, and sometimes it is smaller. Each of these appearances serves a different purpose.

Following are explanations of these cursors:

• Tag Start Cursor signifies the start of an xhtml tag.

  

• Tag Middle Cursor signifies you are within an xhtml tag and can edit the contents.

  

• Tag End Cursor signifies the end of an xhtml tag.

  

• Tag Between Cursor signifies you are between tags. Type to enter text into the parent tag.

  

• Tag Before - Level 1 Cursor size signifies you are in the first of a series of nested tags.

  

• Tag Before - Level 2 Cursor size signifies you are in the second of a series of nested tags.

  

• Tag Before - Level 3 Cursor size signifies you are in the third of a series of nested tags.

  

Some content Courtesy of TechWriteTips

The interface includes a "caret tag neighborhood." If you click on a line that contains inline tags (e.g., bold font, cross-reference), floating tag bars display above it. You can click on a bar to open the context menu and take action on the content.

If you do not want to see the caret tag neighborhood, you can turn this feature off. To do so, simply click the down arrow in the Show Tags button and select Show Caret Tag Neighborhood to remove the check mark.

If you are working in a document in the XML Editor and have empty tags at the text level, this will be shown.

example

Let's say you have a line of text with some bold formatting, like this:

If you then decided you did not want that text and pressed your Backspace key three times to get rid of it, you would see this:

Although you removed the text, the actual bold tags are still there. In this example, all you need to do is press the Backspace key one more time to remove the bold tags altogether:

Note: The display of empty tags is simply designed to help you as you edit content. Even if these tags are shown in the XML Editor when you are working, they will not be shown in your output.

When you first start typing content in a topic, a popup will display below your text as you type. This is IntelliSense, which is a technology that analyzes text as you type and compares it to other text that you have already typed in the project. It allows you to quickly select existing content from a popup similar text that you have already entered previously, like this:

This means that you can add content without typing it completely.

By default, IntelliSense is enabled when you first launch Flare. However, you can disable and enable this feature whenever you want. See Enabling and Disabling IntelliSense.

There are three kinds of content that you can select when using IntelliSense: matching text, frequent phrases, and variables.

• Matches These are existing words that match the text in relation to where the cursor is placed in the content. For example, if there is a long word that you frequently type, you can select the word from the matching list after typing only one or two letters, rather than typing the entire word. To select matching text from the IntelliSense popup list, either (a) double-click the row or (b) click on the row once and press Enter.

  To force this list to show in the popup, click the Matches button .

• Frequent phrases These are phrases that you have already typed elsewhere in your project and that match the text in relation to where the cursor is placed in the content. To select a frequent phrase from the IntelliSense popup list, either (a) double-click the row or (b) click on the row once and press Enter.

  To force this list to show in the popup, click the Frequent Phrases button .

  Tip: When you come across frequent phrases, you might consider turning them into snippets. See About Snippets.

• Variables These are variables that you have already added in your project. This allows you to quickly insert a variable at the location of the cursor. To select a variable from the popup list, either (a) double-click the row or (b) click on the row once and press Enter. See About Variables.

  To force this list to show in the popup, click the Variables button .