Oxygen XML Web Author V21.1.1

DITA

• New DITA Map View - A DITA Map view was added to present a DITA map like a table of contents.
• Open Topics from the DITA Map View Without Reloading the Entire Page - You can open topics and submaps from the DITA Map view by simply double-clicking them (or single-tap on mobile devices). The documents are loaded in the main editing pane without reloading the entire web page.

File Comparison Tool

• Compare File with its Latest Repository Version - A file comparison tool was added that can be used to show differences between the current document and the latest version of it that was saved in the repository. If you are using a Git file repository integration, it automatically does a three-way comparison between the current document, its latest version from the repository, and the original base revision.
• Integrate File Comparisons into Your Workflow - The file comparison tool can be integrated into existing workflows using URL parameters to show differences between document versions at each step.

Editing

• Drag and Drop Functionality for Images, Blocks of XML Content, URLs, and Static Text - Drag and drop functionality was added to make it easier to move or insert content and resources. For example:
  • You can drag an image file from another document, web page, or the system file browser and drop it into your current document and Web Author will insert it as a reference to the image file.
  • You can drag a selected block of content from another web page and drop it into your document and it will be converted to valid markup and inserted.
  • You can drag/drop a topic from the DITA Map view to insert a link.
  • You can also move blocks of content such as list items, sections, or other markup using drag/drop actions.
• Added More Convenience-Related Editing Features - More editing features were added for convenience and efficiency. For example, keyboard shortcuts are now displayed next to actions in the contextual menu and when hovering over toolbar buttons.

Other

• Upload Files to Your Repository Through Simple Drag/Drop Actions - When using Web Author with any of the file repository types that include the Web Author file browsing functionality (Git, WebDAV, Perforce, Alfresco, and others), if a file is not already in your repository, you can drag the file from your system file browser and drop it into the Web Author file browser and it will upload the file to the repository.
• Automatically Back up Documents Stored in Perforce - Documents opened from a Perforce server will be automatically backed up as shelved files at a specified time interval. In case of any failure, to restore the unsaved changes, a user just has to reopen the last edited file.
• Plain Text Editor for Git Integrations - Besides the enhanced support for XML and Markdown files, Web Author now offers support for editing any file with a text-based format from a Git repository.

Customization and Administration

• Display Link to a Web Page With More Details in Validation Messages - You can customize the validation messages that users see when in the Validation side panel to include a link to a web page with more information about the specific validation problem. If you are using Schematron, this can be done by specifying a URI in the see attribute for the particular Schematron rule. For other types of schema, you can add the link by using the ro.sync.document.DocumentPositionedInfo.setAdditionalInfo(URL) API method.
• Load Multiple CSS Resources in One Request - A new plugin extension (WebappCSSResource) allows you to reference a CSS stylesheet in a plugin's descriptor file for styling the Web Author interface and all CSS resources declared in all plugins will be loaded in one request.
• New URL Parameters for the File Comparison Tool - A new diffUrl parameter can be used in conjunction with the url parameter to specify files to compare with each other in the file comparison tool. You can also use the diffBaseUrl parameter to specify the URL of the original base file for the purposes of performing a three-way file comparison. In addition, the leftEditorLabel and rightEditorLabel URL parameters can be used to specify the label for the file on the right side or left side of the file comparison tool (normally, the file name is displayed for the labels).
• New URL Parameter to Compact the XML Tags - A new compactTagsMode URL parameter can be used to compact the tags (for example, multiple tags presented on the same line). Otherwise, each block element is presented on a separate line.
• Retrieve Information About the Current Document - It is possible to retrieve information about a document by invoking Java operations from JavaScript code. For example, you can invoke an operation to retrieve the names of the elements that are allowed at the current cursor location. For more information, see the JS Tutorial: Retrieving Information About the Current Document by Invoking Java Operations from JavaScript Code.

API

• Load Preview of a Document - The sync.api.Editor.loadPreview API method was added and it allows you to load the preview of a document inside a specific element. For example, you could use it to add a preview in a dialog box where you can select content references.
• Choose the Layout for Opened Documents - The sync.api.Workspace.getEditingSupportManager API method was added and it can be used to specify a layout that will be used when a document is loaded. You can choose which views or toolbar actions are presented for a specific content type. For example, you can decide a specific layout when the editor loads an image, or a different layout for a Markdown document, or XML document.
• Scroll to a Particular Element - The sync.api.SelectionManager.scrollSelectionIntoView API method was added and it can be used to navigate to a selection so that it is displayed in the visible area.
• Customize Information Rendered in the DITA Map View - Web Author supports the use of two API extensions from Oxygen XML Editor that can be used to customize nodes within the DITA Map view.
  • The ro.sync.exml.workspace.api.standalone.ditamap.TopicRefTargetInfoProvider API can be used to provide titles for topic references. This should be implemented as an optimization by a CMS that already has the titles of the topics cached in the database. By default, Web Author fetches each topic from the CMS, parses it, and extracts the title.
  • The ro.sync.exml.workspace.api.editor.page.ditamap.DITAMapNodeRendererCustomizer API allows you to customize the rendering of information in the DITA Map view (for example, titles for topic references). This method is called after Web Author computes the title for topic references.