Documentation Center

Content Editor changes

A description of the new and improved web editor behavior you can expect with this release.

Table editing improvements

Several improvements will let you edit tables much more easily.

Pasting merged cells
Tables with merged cells are now pasted correctly into documents that use the CALS table model. You can have merged cells if they were copied from Word or HTML.
Column names in CALS tables
In tables that are following the CALS table model, every column has a name specified in the column specification. This can be used on the cells to facilitate spanning cells over multiple columns. These column name attributes are now updated correctly when inserting new columns.
Column commands from the breadcrumb for column
When working with CALS tables the breadcrumbs show an item for the column element (colspec) as well. The menu for this item now shows options to delete or move the column, and add to additional columns to either side of the current column.
Improved label: Change cell type
The label for changing a header cell used to say "Change header cell", but it was not clear what will be changed. The new label is "Change cell type (cell/header cell)" for when you wish to switch the cell type from header to regular(non-header) cell.
Allow delete of selection spanning several cells
In previous versions, selections over multiple cells could not be deleted at all, or resulted in a broken table structure. It is now possible to select a part of the table and delete, the table will be kept valid, and the selected content will be removed.
Delete tables from the table tab
You can now delete tables from the Table tab as well.
Bug fix: Table is broken (additional tgroup added) when pasting table with header
Pasting a table with a header would result in a table with two tgroups: one tgroup with the header row and and a row with one empty cell, and another tgroup with the table body.

New functionality

New functionality improving configuration and user experience.

Auto-save to local storage
While working on a document, a copy of the document is stored in the browser's local storage. If for any reason you are not able to save your document, you can continue from the point where you left when you open the document again. The draft is removed when finishing or canceling editing. When loading a document, we check if there is a local draft for the same document available.
XMetal-style placeholders
In XMetal, placeholders can be configured by using an XML processing instruction in the document or template. Those placeholders are now behaving as real placeholders in our editor as well. This is not a replacement of the existing placeholder feature, but an addition for improved compatibility.
Handle unique attributes
  • Some attribute values are meant to be unique in the context of a document. However, the default behavior in the editor is to copy attributes when pressing enter.
  • When attributes are defined as do-not-duplicate, those attributes are not duplicated on copy/paste. Attributes can be defined as unique because they are defined with the xs:ID type in the XML Schema, or by using the do-not-duplicate role in the node configuration.
Tags on view
An additional configuration option is available to define a tags on view. The tags will be automatically injected in the rendering. Configuration is available to define what tags should have a tag shown and if the pretty name or the raw XML name should be shown.
Exposed API for defining custom spell checker functions
New API methods are now available for letting you define a custom spell checker, which for example can use a server-side spell checking service.

Data Layer Improvements

The data layer of Content Editor is rewired giving a considerable performance boost. These new private "WebAPI" integration points reduce round-tripping and avoid unnecessary serializaiton/deserialization. Obsolete and unnecessary properties were removed. All these changes give you a much nicer editing experience.

Codeblock editing improvements

The following bugs have been fixed:
  • correct cursor position with inline elements in codeblock
  • space-preserving content is now wrapping in the xml view
  • newline at the end of a codeblock is now shown
  • linebreaks are no longer lost when copying codeblock to another codeblock
  • cursor down in a codeblock now works in Chrome
  • cursor position is now rendered correctly at the end of the line in a codeblock in IE
  • new linebreaks are now shown in IE after moving cursor
  • cursor position is now updated when typing in codeblock in IE

Improvements in modifying the ribbon UI

Customizing the ribbon UI is key to setting up the editor according to your preferences. You can now:
  • Create custom ribbon tabs and groups.
  • Disable the out of the box ribbon tabs and groups.
  • Insert elements using roles.

Bug fix: all library panel buttons now have different ID's. It is thus now possible to enable or disable panel buttons separately.

Improved DITA support

A few improvements of interest to DITA users, as Content Editor continuously evolves with DITA.

Improved display of draft-comments
In particular, draft-comments with paragraphs inside are rendered in a better way now.
Added placeholder for topichead
When inserting a topichead element a placeholder is shown.
Better use of the scalefit attribute
The scalefit attribute is now ignored when a width, height or scale value is set.
Added icons and ribbon tab for Task elements
When working with a topic of the Task type, a new ribbon tab is available to insert the relevant elements.
Configuration specific to DITA is split from generic out of the box configuration
This makes it easier for you to maintain configuration files.
Improved way to insert references
  • The panel for selecting references is now shown when an image or link is inserted using the breadcrumbs, right-click menu and CTRL-Enter quick insert menu.
  • When a template is configured to insert one of these elements, the panel is shown to select which object to reference.
Insert references panel behavior
The panel will now be closed and the operation will be cancelled whenever you click somewhere outside of this panel.

Correctly identifying the used browser

Opera 15 and later was recognized as Chrome, causing the editor to be run without warning that Opera is not a supported browser. The warning is now shown again. If you want to use Opera anyway, that is possible by clicking the try anyway button, or by configuring a URL parameter (platformtest=skip).

References in the correct language

When inserting references, the editor will show previews in the same language as the document that is active in the editor. Also when resolving referenced content in the editing view, the same language is used. If the reference is not available in the same language as the document that is edited, an error is displayed.