What's New in Oxygen XML Author 24
October 18, 2021
Related version: 24.1
Oxygen XML Author version 24.0 is the latest major release of the industry's most advanced bundle of tools used by technical writers and publishers everywhere. This release offers a lot of exciting new features, updates, productivity enhancements, new customization options, and various performance optimizations.
This major release introduces lots of improvements for the DITA authoring and publishing community, such as productivity boosts for general visual editing and startup speed optimization. Going further, comparison reports can now be generated in various formats for the file or directory comparisons, additions and updates were implemented for Add-ons and as usual, you can also find new API entry points, various bug fixes, component updates, and much more.
There are changes in:
DITA Authoring
Configure and Run Validation Scenarios from the DITA Maps Manager
The DITA Maps Manager toolbar has now a validation drop-down
menu that, along with the usual Validate and Check for Completeness
button, contains options for running or configuring validation scenarios for the current
map.
New Sample Project Now Available to Help With DITA Customizations
The New Project Wizard now includes a new project template
named Startup DITA Project that can be used as inspiration for your own
custom DITA projects. This sample project contains examples for various framework
customizations and a best practices project structure to help you initiate your own
customizations.
Convert Between DITA Bookmaps and Maps
New refactoring actions (Convert DITA Bookmap to Map and
Convert DITA Map to Bookmap) were added for DITA users who want to
convert a DITA bookmap to a map, and vice versa. These
actions can be found in the Tools / XML Refactoring
menu, as well as in the Refactoring submenu within the DITA Maps
Manager's contextual menu.
Change or Remove Profiling Attribute Values
A new refactoring action (Change or remove profiling attribute
value) was added for DITA users who want to change a profiling attribute value
in the entire project or to remove a certain value from all defined profiling attributes.
This action can be found in the Tools / XML Refactoring
menu, as well as in the Refactoring submenu within the DITA Maps
Manager's contextual menu.
Define Keys for all Topic References
You now have a simple way to convert links inside a DITA project from direct to
indirect (key-based addressing) via a new DITA map refactoring action (Define keys
for all topic references). You can use it to define keys for all of a DITA
map's topic references based on the referenced file name and it converts each direct
reference in each DITA topic to a key reference. The action can be found in the
Tools / XML Refactoring menu, as well as in the
Refactoring submenu within the DITA Maps Manager's contextual
menu.
Sort Media Resources by Date
The Media tab in the DITA Reusable Components view now has an
option in the settings drop-down menu to sort the presented media resources depending on
both their last modification and creation times.
Find All Elements When a DITA Map is Open With Expanded Topics
When a DITA map is open with all of the referenced topics expanded/editable in
one document, the Find All Elements action now detects elements in the
referenced topics.
Speed Improved for Updating References When Renaming/Moving Resources
When renaming or moving DITA resources (e.g. topics) in the
Project view with Main Files support enabled,
references are updated faster, thus improving the user experience for large DITA
projects.
DITA 2.0 Standard
Updated to the Latest DITA 2.0 DTDs
Oxygen was updated to include the latest DITA 2.0 standard DTDs.
Convert DITA 1.3 Resources to DITA 2.0
A new refactoring action (Convert DITA 1.3 maps and topics to the DITA
2.0) was added to make it possible to easily convert DITA 1.3 resources to DITA
2.0. The action can be found in the DITA section of the XML
Refactoring tool.
DITA 2.0 Simple Table Handling Improvements
DITA 2.0 simple tables that contain cells spanning multiple rows and columns
are now properly rendered and validated.
Documentation Presented for New DITA 2.0 Elements and Attributes
The content completion window presents documentation for the newly added DITA
2.0 elements and attributes.
DITA Publishing
Publish and Upload Articles to Zendesk Help Center
A new Zendesk Help Center transformation scenario is now
available, allowing you to publish DITA topics to XHTML output and upload them directly as
articles to the Zendesk Help
Center. Then, whenever your content is updated, you simply need to
re-run the transformation and the articles in Zendesk are synchronized automatically to
reflect the changes.
Dynamically Convert Non-DITA Resources to DITA During Publishing
It is now possible to dynamically convert various types of non-DITA resources
(Word, Excel, Markdown, or HTML documents) to DITA during the publishing process. This
support is enabled for a particular resource referenced in a DITA map by specifying the
type of conversion using the
@format attribute on the particular
<topicref> element. For details, see Dynamic Word/Excel/HTML/Markdown to DITA Converter.
Generate PDF in Compliance with PDF/UA Standards
Support was added for the
pdf.accessibility DITA parameter
when generating CSS-based PDF output. If this parameter is set to yes,
the PDF output will be generated in compliance with the PDF/Universal Accessibility
standard (also known as ISO 14289). For more details, see How to Create Fully Accessible Documents.Protect PDF Files with Security Permissions
For CSS-based PDF transformations, you can restrict the permissions for people
using your PDF files by using some new transformation parameters. For example, you can
restrict users from printing or copying the PDF content, or require a password to access
the PDF document. For more details, see How to Protect PDF Files with Security Permissions.
Show Only Change Bars for Tracked Changes in PDF Output
It is now possible to only display the change bars for tracked changes in PDF
output while hiding the other styling for the inserted or deleted content. This is helpful
if you want to see the document in a final version while still seeing change bars where
content was inserted or deleted. This can be done for both XSL-FO PDF transformations (by
setting the
show.changes.and.comments.as.changebars.only parameter to
yes) or CSS-based PDF transformations (by using a simple CSS
customization as described in: How to Show Only Change Bars Without Other Styling for Tracked
Changes).Publishing Template Improvements
If the
args-css parameter is set in a DITA to PDF
transformation based on HTML5 & CSS and the corresponding publishing template is
exported as a zip file, the value of the args-css parameter is now
automatically converted to a CSS resource in the publishing template's descriptor
file.Run DITA-OT Transformations Using the 'dita' Script
A new Prefer using the "dita" command option is available in
the Advanced tab for DITA-OT transformations. When selected, Oxygen will attempt to use
the
dita.bat script (dita.sh for macOS and Linux) that
is bundled with DITA-OT to run the transformation instead of running it as an ANT
process.Change the Default Resolution for Images
The
image.resolution transformation parameter can be used to
change the default resolution of images. It mainly works on vector images (e.g. PDF, SVG)
since raster images have their resolution defined in their metadata.Copyright Information Automatically Processed in CSS-based PDF Transformations
When generating CSS-based PDF output from a DITA map, the transformation
automatically processes copyright information based on the data specified in the DITA
<copyright> and <bookrights>
elements.Rotate Table Cells
For CSS-based PDF output, you now have the possibility of rotating table cell
content by using the
@rotate attribute. For more details, see How to Rotate Content from a Table Cell.DITA Validation
Use the DITA Map Validate and Check for Completeness Process in Custom Validation Scenarios
When configuring validation scenarios, you now have the option to use a new
DITA Map Validation and Completeness Check engine that performs a
validation process that checks the DITA map document and all referenced topics and maps
(similar to the process done when using the DITA Map Validate and Check for
Completeness action in the DITA Maps Manager). The DITA Map
framework also now includes a validation scenario for performing this type of check on a
map and its referenced resources.
New Validation Engine for DITA-OT Project Files to Validate and Check for Completeness
When configuring validation scenarios, you now have the option to use a new
DITA -OT Project Validation and Completeness Check engine that can be
used to validate all contexts from a DITA-OT Project file. It is similar to the process
done when using the DITA Map Validate and Check for Completeness action
in the DITA Maps Manager for all pairs of DITA map and DITAVAL filter files. The
DITA-OT Project framework also now includes a validation scenario for
performing this type of check on a DITA-OT Project file.
Visual Editing
Intelligent Selection in Author Mode
It is now easier to select and copy an element in Author mode
when you use Partial Tags for the Tags Display Mode.
When using this mode, you now have the ability to select a block element (along with its
content) directly in the main editing pane by spanning the selection to include the
element's invisible end tag (using your mouse or keyboard). For more
details, see Intelligent
Selection in Author Mode.
Display Block Tags in a Compact Mode
A new mode was added to the Tags Display Mode sub-menu named
Block Tags without Element Names. It displays tags for block elements
without the element names for a more compact version of the Block Tags
mode.
Save Images Locally and Update Existing References
A new contextual menu action (Save image as) is available in
Author mode for local, external, or embedded images. This action opens a
dialog box where you can choose where to save the image locally and it includes an option
(Update the reference to the image) that can be toggled to choose
whether or not to update the path in any existing references to the image.
Set the Initial Editing Mode Using the Framework Extension Script
When configuring a Framework Extension Script file, you now have the ability to
specify the default editing mode that is loaded when a document is opened for the first
time. For example, if the files are usually edited in the Author editing
mode, you can specify it to be the initial mode using the
<initialPage> element.Comparison Tools
Generate an HTML Report of the Results of a Directory Comparison
A new Generate HTML report for directory comparison action was
added in the Tools menu, allowing you to generate a HTML report after
executing a 2-way or 3-way directory comparison. The resulting report be saved in an
output directory and you can view it in your browser or default system application. There
is also an option to generate additional comparison reports for non-binary modified file
pairs and the main report will include links to those additional reports.
Save File/Directory Comparison Results in HTML Format
When using the Compare Files or Compare
Directories tool, a new Save Results as HTML button is
available on the toolbar to generate a detailed comparison report as an HTML file. You can
then choose to view that HTML file in your preferred internet browser or application. The
resulting report displays information about all the detected differences between the files
or directories.
Performance Improvements
Startup Speed Improved
If multiple file tabs were left open in a previous editing session, the
application will not load the file content at startup, or when switching projects and
restoring the open files associated with that project. The file content will be loaded
when you switch to the corresponding file tab. Each previously open file is still visible
as a tab so you can switch to it normally. This helps to improve the application's startup
time and also the time to switch between projects. You can disable this behavior by
toggling the Load file content only when switching to its corresponding editor
tab option that is now available in the Global preferences
page.
Optimization for Loading Large Documents
Performance was improved when loading large documents. For example, XML
documents with a lot of MathML equations and DocBook documents that include a large number
of internal links are now processed and loaded faster.
Add-ons
There are available a variety of add-ons for Oxygen that extend the functionality
of the application. New add-ons were made available and many existing ones were updated and
improved.
Git Client 3.0.0 Improvements
Various improvements were made to the Git Client add-on:
- You can create new tags from the contextual menu in the Git History view. Also, there is now a toolbar action in the Git Staging view to list all the tags. Tags from the local repository can be deleted or pushed to the remote repository.
- You can stash uncommitted changes locally so that you can use other Git operations in the meantime. You also have options to re-apply or delete stashed changes.
- Added a Merge "SELECTED_BRANCH" into "CURRENT_BRANCH" action in the contextual menu for local branches in the Git Branch Manager view.
- Added a Revert commit action in the contextual menu for commits from the Git History view. It creates a new commit that reverts all the changes from the selected commit.
- Added an Open working copy version action to the contextual menu for resources associated to a revision in the Git History view.
- Added a Reset file to this commit action to the contextual menu for resources associated to a revision in the Git History view. It checks out the selected version of the file.
- After a repository that contains submodules is cloned, all submodules are also automatically initialized and cloned.
- When pulling the remote changes for a repository that contains submodules, the submodules are updated as well (by default). This behavior depends on the Update all submodules after pulling changes from the remote repository option from the Git Client preferences page in Oxygen.
- If a submodule appears as changed in the Unstaged files area, you can open it using the Open action from the contextual menu.
- The tooltip shown for a modified submodule from the Unstaged files area now presents information about the currently and previously tracked commits.
- Branches created from other local branches are now automatically checked out. This behavior can be disabled by deselecting the Checkout branch option in the Create branch dialog box.
- You can view the history for a file or directory from the Project view. When showing the history for a directory in the affected files section, the files that are descendants of the directory are presented on top and the files that are outside it are grayed out.
- A message prompt is now displayed if you try to switch the branch while there are uncommitted changes so that you can confirm that you want to stash the changes or move them to the new branch.
- A warning message is now displayed when trying to use the "Mark as resolved" action on a file that contains conflict markers.
- A new
${git(working_copy_url)}editor variable can be used to return the location of the working copy directory in the form of a URL. - When hovering the cursor over the Pull and Push buttons, the displayed tooltip now shows information about some of the incoming/outgoing commits (such as the date, author and message).
- When hovering the cursor over a branch name, a tooltip is displayed that provides information about the last commit performed on that branch (such as the author and the date of the commit).
- The highlight boxes that surround branches and tags are now styled differently so that it is easier to identify which represents a branch and which represents a tag.
- The settings in the Git client preferences page can be saved at project level. The project can then be shared with other users and everyone will have the same Git client settings.
- The Git Staging side-view now has a cleaner look.
- Added support for Dutch language localization.
- Integrated various bug fixes, component updates, and performance enhancements.
For a complete list of updates added in the Git Client, see https://github.com/oxygenxml/oxygen-git-plugin/releases.
DITA Prolog Updater Add-on Improvements
Various improvements were made to the DITA Prolog Updater
add-on:
- Added a new option to customize the value of the
@typeattribute for the<author>element that is inserted to allow you to specify the primary (creator) author. - Added a new option to customize the value of the
@typeattribute for the<author>element that is inserted to allow you to specify an additional (contributor) author. - Improved the process so that an additional author (contributor) cannot be added if they are already specified as the primary (creator) author.
- Fixed an issue where a warning message was reported even though prolog updating was disabled.
Specify Add-ons to be Automatically Installed
A new option was added in the Add-ons preferences page named
Automatically install add-ons. You can use it to specify required
add-ons for a project. Then, when a user opens the project, the specified add-ons will be
automatically installed after prompting the user.
Batch Documents Converter Add-on Improvements
Various improvements were made to the Batch Documents Converter add-on. For example, cross-references, index entries, and footnotes are now handled properly when converting a Word document to DITA.
Translator Helper Add-on Supports DeepL Translator
The Translator
Helper add-on was enhanced to provide support for translating content to various
languages using DeepL Translator.
Writer Helper Add-on (Experimental)
A new Writer Helper
add-on is available and it provides a side-view that is designed to help content
authors with various tools that are useful for technical writers:
- Review - You can select folders or files in the Project view and start a review session for them.
- Similar Content - You can select folders or files in the Project view and find elements with similar content that could be reused.
- Read Aloud - You can select content and use a Play button to listen to content out loud, read by a system-specific narrator.
- Tips - Displays a list of editing tips, tuned for technical writers.
Scripting
The all platforms distribution of Oxygen is bundled with a
scripts sub-folder that contains scripts for automating and running
various utilities from a command line interface. To run any of these scripts, you need to
purchase a scripting license.Generate HTML Reports for the File Comparison Script
When using the Compare Files script, a new output format is
available to generate the comparison result as an HTML file, for both 2-way and 3-way
comparison. You can visualize the differences side-by-side and you can filter them by
type. For details, see Scripting
Oxygen: Compare Files.
Generate HTML Reports for the Directories Comparison Script
When using the Compare Directories script, a new output format
is available to generate the comparison result as an HTML file. It also is possible to
generate separate comparison reports for all modified file pairs. For details, see Scripting Oxygen: Compare Directories.
New Merge Option for File and Directory Comparison
When using the Compare Directories or Compare Files scripts for 3-way comparisons, the
-merge argument can now be used to perform a merge operation that is
similar to the same process in any version control system. After the comparison, a report
is created that provides details about the changes that were made. You can also use the
-mergeout argument to specify a directory path where to save the output
results of the merge operation.
Improvements to the File and Directory Comparison Scripts
When using the Compare Files or Compare Directories script, you can now specify the file or
directory paths with a URL. Also, you now have the ability to specify a path to a base
file or directory to do 3-way comparisons. In addition, you can optionally specify the
content type to force file handling for a specific type of file.
Batch Format and Indent Multiple Files at Once
A new command-line script (
batchFormatAndIndent) is now
available that can be used to format and indent multiple files at once. You can add
numerous options as arguments to control which files and settings should be used for the
operation. For details, see Scripting Oxygen: Format and Indent Files.Other
Batch Accept Tracked Changes or Remove Comments/Highlights
A new XML refactoring operation (
Accept all tracked changes, remove all Oxygen-specific comments and
highlights) can be used to accept all application-specific tracked
changes (from elements and attributes) or to remove all comments or
highlights.Use Attribute Conditions in Content Completion Configuration File
The Content Completion configuration file
(
cc_config.xml) now supports attribute and text proposals based on
simplified XPath expressions (using the <valueProposals> element).
For details, see Configuring the Proposals for Attribute and Element Values.Use Editor Variables as Filename Prefixes and Suffixes
Editor variables can now be used as values of the
filenamePrefix and filenameSuffix properties in the
.properties configuration file that corresponds to a new document
template.Use Editor Variables as Attribute Values in the Content Completion Configuration File
When configuring the insertion of attributes in the Content Completion
configuration file (
cc_config.xml), editor variables can now be used for
the @value attribute of the <insertAttribute>
element.API
New Plugin Extension to Provide Custom Validation Engine
The new plugin extension API
ValidatorPluginExtension allows a plugin to contribute a
custom validation engine used from a validation scenario to either validate the current
document or batch-validate multiple documents. New API Methods to Access AuthorPersistentHighlight Properties
New API methods
AuthorPersistentHighlight.getPropertiesIterator() and AuthorPersistentHighlight.getProperty(propertyName) were
added to provide access to properties specific to an Author-mode highlight. New API Method to Access Selected URL Resources in the DITA Maps Manager View
A new API method
WSDITAMapEditorPage.getCurrentSelectedURLs(boolean, boolean)
was added that allows access to the list of selected referenced topic URLs in the DITA
Maps Manager view.New API Method to Access CSS Styles for Document Loaded in Memory
A new API method
AuthorDocumentProvider.getStyles(AuthorNode) was added that
allows querying styles for a specific node.New API Method to Create Scroll Panes
A new API method
OxygenUIComponentsFactory.createScrollPane(Component, int,
int) was added that allows you to create scroll panes that look and feel
like the ones implemented in Oxygen.New API Method to Perform 3-Way Diff Comparisons
A new API method
DifferencePerformer.performDiff(Reader, Reader, Reader, String, String,
String, String, DiffOptions, DiffProgressListener) was added and it
can be used to perform the diff operation between the resources represented by the three
readers. The resources are compared factoring in the content type and the provided
options.New API Method to Save Add-on Settings At Project Level
A new API method
OptionPagePluginExtension.getProjectLevelOptionKeys() was
added and it allows preferences pages provided by add-ons to save option keys at project
level.Create Documents with References Expanded
A new
expandReferences parameter was added to the PluginWorkspace.createAuthorDocumentProvider API method and
it can be used to create a document that contains a structure of Author nodes with all of
the references expanded.Detect Content Type
A new API method
UtilAccess.getContentType(String) was added and it can be
used to detect the content type of a resource based on the
systemID.New API to Register Plugin Extension from Workspace Access Plugin
The new plugin extension API
StandalonePluginWorkspace.addPluginExtension allows a
workspace access plugin to contribute a custom plugin extension dynamically instead of
defining it in the plugin.xml file. Component Updates
TEI Schemas 4.3.0 and TEI XSL Stylesheets 7.52
Updated the TEI framework in Oxygen to the latest TEI Schemas 4.3.0 and TEI XSL
Stylesheets 7.52.
XSpec 2.0
Updated the XSpec framework in Oxygen to the latest version 2.0.
Official Support for eXist-db Version 5.3.0
Oxygen has been tested and officially supports eXist-db version
5.3.0.
DITA Open Toolkit Version 3.6.1
Updated the DITA Open Toolkit version that is bundled with Oxygen to version
3.6.1.
Apache Batik 1.14
Updated the Apache Batik SVG toolkit to version 1.14.
Apache FOP 2.6
Updated Apache FOP to version 2.6.
Apache POI Libraries 4.1.0
Updated the Apache POI libraries to version 4.1.0.
Calabash 1.3.2-99
Updated the Calabash engine to version 1.3.2-99.
Eclipse 4.21
Updated the Eclipse plugin to support version 4.21.
EPUBCheck 4.2.6
Updated the EPUBCheck library to version 4.2.6.
Saxon XSLT and XQuery Transformer Add-on 10.6
Updated the 10.x version of the Saxon transformer
add-on to support Saxon version 10.6.
XMLSec Version 2.1.7
The XMLSec package that allows signing and signature checks in XML documents
was updated to version 2.1.7.
Terms of Use Changes
Importing Data from MS Excel 2007 or Newer No Longer Requires Extra Libraries
When importing data from MS Excel 2007 or newer, it is no longer required for
you to add extra libraries (previously added by installing an add-on).
TCP Floating License Server Functionality Removed
The old TCP floating license server functionality has been removed. If you are
using floating licenses or a large number of user-based licenses, you need to use the HTTP
license server functionality instead.
DITA Map to PDF WYSIWYG Transformation Removed
The old DITA Map to PDF WYSIWYG transformation (pdf-css
transtype), that was already deprecated, has been removed. It was replaced with the
DITA Map to PDF - based on HTML5 & CSS transformation
(pdf-css-html5 transtype).
DocBook WebHelp Classic with Feedback Transformation Removed
The DocBook Webhelp Classic with Feedback transformation
scenario, that was already deprecated, has been removed. WebHelp Classic for DocBook can
now be integrated with the new Oxygen Feedback commenting platform
instead. For more details, see Deploying the
Oxygen Feedback Comments Component for DocBook.
Berkeley DB XML Support Deprecated
The Berkeley DB XML type of database connection is now
deprecated.
MS SQL Server 2005/2008 Support Deprecated
The MS SQL Server 2005 and MS SQL Server 2008
types of database connections are now deprecated.
Support for Java 8 Deprecated
The support for Java 8 in Oxygen has been deprecated and it will no longer be
supported starting with version 25.0.
Injecting a License Key in the Author Component is No Longer Possible
The ability to register a fixed license key in the Author Component is now
completely removed from the code.