Using the DITA configuration files
SDL provides pre-built DITA configuration files as a starting point for your own DITA implementation.
- Provides a cleaner UI
- Without configuration, the UI would be cluttered due to the large number of DITA elements and attributes. We've removed some elements and grouped others into logical arrangements in order to organize and streamline the UI.
- Handles inline and block elements properly
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Due to the way that DITA mixes inline and block elements, some configuration is necessary for Content Editor to behave properly in regard to these elements. For example, generic DITA allows
<ol>and<p>elements to not only exist next to each other but also inside of each other. Our DITA configuration files give preference to the most frequently used elements and provide guidance to Content Editor to more intelligently choose which elements are nested and which create new blocks. - Provides templates to add elements in a defined way
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Editing generic, unmodified DITA can be quite difficult because many elements have no required sub-elements. The DITA configuration uses templates, ensuring that when new elements are created, desired sub-elements are also created at the same time, so that, for instance, when you insert a section, the editor creates a
<title>element and an initial<p>element inside the new section. - Uses roles and classes to access built-in editor behavior
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The DITA configuration sets up roles for elements, so that lists behave like lists, tables behave like tables and so forth. It also gives you, the customer, examples of how to set up configurations based on the
classattribute, allowing the configuration to continue to be used with specializations with no additional work. In cases where an inherited role is not desirable, you can disable it by addingavailable=”false”to the<x:role>element.
We cannot emphasize strongly enough that you should review and modify the configuration files to suit your DITA usage. While these files are based our customers' experiences, it is extremely likely that you will still need to modify these files to suit your situation. We believe that in most cases, the modifications will be minor but we cannot give any assurances that this will be the case.
In any case, these files are made available as a guideline with no guarantee of suitability for any specific or general application. Please feel free to contact SDL Support if you encounter any problems with them or need assistance or additional information to customize them to your application.