Local Formatting

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. If you click the face of the button, the topic preview is shown based on the format specified in the primary target. If you click the down arrow, you can select any of the targets in your project from a menu. The topic preview is then displayed using the output format specified in that target. For more information see Previewing Topics.

Note: The topic preview feature is not available for Microsoft Word or Adobe FrameMaker formats.

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.

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.

Opens the Insert Snippet Link dialog, which lets you insert a snippet.

Opens the Variables dialog, which lets you insert a variable.

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.

Opens a submenu, which lets you select any of 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 space Turns paragraph and space markers on and off in the active topic. When you turn this feature on, you can see markers that show where paragraphs end and where space exists before and after content.
  
• Show tags Turns tags on or off in the active topic. When you turn this feature on, the appropriate XML tags (e.g., <body>, <h1>, <p>) are displayed around the content.
  
• Enable ClearType Font Smoothing Displays text in a "ClearType" font, which appears to "smooth out" the words and make them easier to read. ClearType is a software technology developed by Microsoft that improves the readability of text on existing LCDs (Liquid Crystal Displays), such as laptop screens, Pocket PC screens, and flat panel monitors. With ClearType font technology, the words on your computer screen look almost as sharp and clear as those printed on a piece of paper. ClearType works by accessing the individual vertical color stripe elements in every pixel of an LCD screen. Before ClearType, the smallest level of detail that a computer could display was a single pixel, but with ClearType running on an LCD monitor, we can now display features of text as small as a fraction of a pixel in width. The extra resolution increases the sharpness of the tiny details in text display, making it much easier to read over long durations.
• Enable GDI+ Text Renderer Toggles between Microsoft Windows Graphics Device Interface (GDI) and GDI+ in terms of how content is rendered on your monitor. What is the difference between GDI and GDI+? The bottom line is that GDI+ improves the quality of the rendering somewhat, but it can be slower than GDI. For more information about GDI+, see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms533797.aspx.

• 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 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 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 Toggles between showing images in the XML Editor as thumbnails or at full size. 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 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 Changes Displays any tracked changes or 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 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 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.

Lets you select a style from a style sheet, applying that style to the content selected in the topic. It is the only button in the Text Format Toolbar that deals with style formatting as opposed to local (or "inline") formatting. You can also select a style class for content from the Styles window pane (View>Style Window). For more information see About Styles and Style Sheets.

Lets you select a font type (e.g., Arial, Times New Roman), applying it to the content selected in the topic.

Lets you select a font size, applying it to the content selected in the topic.

Applies bold typeface to the content selected in the topic.

Applies italic typeface to the content selected in the topic.

Underlines the content selected in the topic.

Raises the selected content in the topic above the normal line of text (e.g., X²).

Lowers the selected content in the topic below the normal line of text (e.g., X₂).

Opens the Font Properties dialog, which lets you edit the font properties for topic content directly.

Removes local formatting in a selection or even an entire topic. See Removing Inline Formatting.

Lets you choose and apply a color to the selected content.

Lets you choose and apply a color to the background of the selected content.

You can set redacted text on any kind of content (e.g., characters, paragraphs, images, tables). You can do this locally at the font level by highlighting each piece of content, or you can specify redaction on a style and then apply that style to content whenever necessary. It is recommended that you use styles whenever possible.Redaction occurs when content is permanently eliminated from a printed or electronic document. In place of that content, end users will see black rectangles that indicate where the original content was found. See About Redacted Text and Setting Redacted Text on Content.

Aligns the selected content to the left.

Aligns the selected content in the center.

Aligns the selected content to the right.

Spaces the selected content so that both the left and right sides are aligned.

Resets the alignment of the selected text to the default (inherited) setting.

Lets you select one of several kinds of bullet or numbered lists, applying it to the selected content.

• Bullet List Applies a bulleted list to the selected content.
• Circle Bullet List Applies a bulleted list to the selected content. The bullets are circles.
• Square Bullet List Applies a bulleted list to the selected content. The bullets are squares.
• Numbered List Applies a numbered list to the selected content.
• Lower-alpha Numbered List Applies a numbered list to the selected content where lowercase alpha characters are used (a., b., c., d., etc.)
• Upper-alpha Numbered List Applies a numbered list to the selected content where uppercase alpha characters are used (A., B., C., D., etc.)
• Lower-Roman Numbered List Applies a numbered list to the selected content where lowercase Roman numerals are used (i., ii., iii., iv., etc.)
• Upper-Roman Numbered List Applies a numbered list to the selected content where uppercase Roman numerals are used (I., II., III., IV., etc.)

Lets you shift indented content to the left, thus "outdenting" it.

Lets you shift selected content to the right, thus "indenting" it.

Lets you apply miscellaneous actions to selected content in a list. These actions are as follows:

• Merge With Previous List Combines a list with another list immediately before it.
• Merge With Next List Combines a list with another list immediately following it.
• Sort List Reorders the items in the list alphabetically.
• Reverse List Reorders the items in the list so that they appear in reverse order (i.e., first item is last, last item is first).
• Unbind List Removes the list designation from the content so that it displays as regular text.

• Continue Sequence Ensures that the next list you create in the topic starts with the next number in the sequence of the list above (even if the two lists are separated by other content).

  example

  Let's say you have a numbered list from 1 to 10 at the top of your topic and you add a few regular paragraphs (not in a list) after it. If you start another numbered list and select this option, the new list will start at 11.

• List Start # Lets you specify a number to start a numbered list. (After you enter a number in this selection, you need to click the blue "enter" arrow at the end to apply the effect.)

• Item # Lets you specify a number to start a selected item in a numbered list.

  example

  Let's say you have a numbered list from 1 to 10. If you were to click in the paragraph with the number 7 and then use this option to start numbering at 23, your list would change so that the numbering displayed as 1 to 6 and then 23 to 26. (After you enter a number in this selection, you need to click the blue "enter" arrow at the end to apply the effect.)

• Move Up Moves the selected item in the list above the item before it.
• Move Down Moves the selected item in the list below the item after it.
• Make Simple Item(s) Lets you return a line in a list from a paragraph item to a simple item (an <li> tag without a <p> tag following it). Paragraph items can be used in numbered or bulleted lists, for example, to add comments without disrupting the flow of the list. For more information see Adding Notes or Comments Between List Items.
• Make Paragraph Item(s) Lets you add a <p> tag after the <li> tag in a numbered or bulleted list. You can then add more lines after a list item without adding numbers or bullets to those lines. Paragraph items can be used in numbered or bulleted lists, for example, to add comments without disrupting the flow of the list. For more information see Adding Notes or Comments Between List Items.