Besides Apache FOP, the built-in formatting objects processor, you can configure other external processors and set them in the transformation scenarios for processing XSL-FO documents.
Oxygen XML Developer provides an easy way to add two of the most used commercial FO processors: RenderX XEP and Antenna House XSL Formatter. You can easily add RenderX XEP as an external FO processor if you have the XEP installed. Also, if you have the Antenna House XSL Formatter v4 or v5, Oxygen XML Developer uses the environmental variables set by the XSL Formatter installation to detect and use it for XSL-FO transformations. If the environmental variables are not set for the XSL Formatter installation, you can browse and choose the executable file just as you would for XEP. You can use these two external FO processors for DITA OT transformations scenarios and XML with XSLT transformation scenarios.
To open the FO Processors preferences panel ,go to .
The FO Processors Preferences Panel
Apache FOP
The options for FO processors are the following:
- Use built-in Apache FOP - instructs Oxygen XML Developer to use its built-in Apache FO processor;
- Use other Apache FOP - instructs Oxygen XML Developer to use another Apache FO processor installed on your computer;
- Enable the output of the built-in FOP - all Apache FOP output is displayed in a results pane at the bottom of the Oxygen XML Developer window including warning messages about FO instructions not supported by Apache FOP;
- Memory available to the built-in FOP - if your Apache FOP transformations fail with an Out of Memory error (OutOfMemoryError) select from this combo box a larger value for the amount of memory reserved for FOP transformations;
- Configuration file for the built-in FOP - you should specify here the path to an Apache FOP configuration file, necessary for example to render to PDF a document containing Unicode content using a special true type font;
- Generates PDF/A-1b output - when selected PDF/A-1b output is
generated;Note: All fonts have to be embedded, even the implicit ones. More information about configuring metrics files for the embedded fonts can be found in Add a font to the built-in FOP.Note: You cannot use the <filterList> key in the configuration file because FOP would generate the following error: The Filter key is prohibited when PDF/A-1 is active.
- Add 'XEP' FO processor (executable file is needed) - in case RenderX XEP is already installed on your computer, you can use this button to choose the XEP executable script (xep.bat for Windows, xep for Linux);
- Add 'Antenna House' FO processor (executable file is needed) - in case Antenna House XSL Formatter is already installed on your computer, you can use this button to choose the Antenna House executable script (AHFCmd.exe ,or XSLCmd.exe for Windows, AHFCmd.sh ,or XSLCmd.sh for Linux);
External FO processors
In this section you can manage the external FO processors you want to use in transformation scenarios. Press the New button to add a new external FO processor. The following dialog is displayed:
The External FO Processor Configuration Dialog
- Name - the name displayed in the list of available FOP processors on the FOP tab of the transformation scenario dialog;
- Description - a textual description of the FO processor displayed in the FO processors table and in tooltips of UI components where the processor is selected;
- Output Encoding - the encoding of the FO processor output stream displayed in a results panel at the bottom of the Oxygen XML Developer window;
- Error Encoding - the encoding of the FO processor error stream displayed in a results panel at the bottom of the Oxygen XML Developer window;
- Working directory - the directory where the intermediate and
final results of the processing is stored. Here you can use one of the following editor variables:
- ${homeDir} - the path to user home directory;
- ${cfd} - the path of current file directory. If the current file is not a local file, the target is the user's desktop directory;
- ${pd} - the project directory;
- ${oxygenInstallDir} - the Oxygen XML Developer installation directory;
- Command line - the command line that starts the FO processor,
specific to each processor. Here you can use one of the following editor variables:
- ${method} - the FOP transformation method: pdf, ps or txt;
- ${fo} - the input FO file;
- ${out} - the output file;
- ${pd} - the project directory;
- ${frameworksDir} - the path of the frameworks subdirectory of the Oxygen XML Developer install directory;
- ${oxygenInstallDir} - the Oxygen XML Developer installation directory;
- ${ps} - the platform-specific path separator. It is used between the library files specified in the class path of the command line.
