Author Framework Development
A framework defines the association between a document type (a type of XML) or a class of documents with CSS stylesheets, validation schemas, catalog files, new files templates, transformation scenarios, and custom actions. Such defined frameworks can be easily shared between users to ensure a consolidated user experience, or a common style guide within a company.
Oxygen XML Author already has frameworks for editing DocBook, DITA, TEI, and more, that can be extended and customized according to your needs. For a special type of XML, you can create a new custom framework. The frameworks can be installed and activated individually and they can only work within the Oxygen XML application (they cannot operate on their own).
The Author frameworks are bundles that contain CSS, schema files, and Java code, and allow powerful customizations of your XML document types in the Oxygen Author mode.
If you want to enhance and tune the default editing capabilities, you will need to develop Author framework Java extensions. For details and step-by-step tutorials, please read the Author Developer Guide.
Setting up the Oxygen SDK is a good starting point. Once setup, this sample project includes an oxygen-sample-framework Maven module that contains:
- A sample framework project that implements a sample documentation framework described in the Oxygen User Manual
- The Author API, as attached Javadoc documentation (The Javadoc of the Oxygen SDK API is also available online)
- The source code of all the Java operations present in the DITA, DocBook, TEI, and XHTML Oxygen frameworks
- A README.html file describing the necessary steps for building and packaging
Licensing
The development of new frameworks or extensions of the default Oxygen XML frameworks using the SDK is free of charge, subject to registration and in accordance with the SDK agreement. Testing the frameworks during development phase can be done using a licensed Oxygen XML product.
There is no royalty fee for deploying frameworks, frameworks are seen as your own applications, and you are responsible for them. You can license the frameworks under your own licensing terms (including commercial), the only exception is that you can't use GPL, as Oxygen XML is not GPL.
Community Frameworks List
Many frameworks have been written by community members. We're working on a central plugin repository platform that lists all frameworks and offers functionality to install frameworks in an automated fashion. As a framework developer, you will be able to publish your framework on that platform.