Document Type Association

A document type or framework is associated to an XML file according to a set of rules. It includes also many settings that improve editing in the Author mode for the category of XML files it applies for. These settings include:

a default grammar used for validation and content completion in both Author mode and Text mode;
CSS stylesheet(s) for rendering XML documents in Author mode;
user actions invoked from toolbar or menu in Author mode;
predefined scenarios used for transformation of the class of XML documents defined by the document type;
XML catalogs;
directories with file templates;
user-defined extensions for customizing the interaction with the content author in Author mode.

Note: The Author mode allows WYSIWYG-like visual editing of XML documents and is available only in Oxygen XML Developer plugin Editor and Oxygen XML Developer plugin Author.

To open the Document Type Association preferences page go to Window > Preferences > oXygen > Document Type Association.

Oxygen XML Developer plugin is highly customizable. Practically you can associate an entire class of documents (grouped logically by some common features like namespace, root element name or filename) to a bundle consisting of CSS stylesheets, validation schemas, catalog files, new files templates, transformation scenarios and even custom actions. The bundle is called document type and the association is called Document Type Association or, more generically, framework.

The following actions are available in this preferences panel:

Change framework directory location - specifies a from where Oxygen XML Developer plugin loads the document types;
Document types table - presents the currently defined document type associations, ordered by priority and alphabetically. Each row of the table represents a document type association, each holding the following information:
- Document type - name of the document type;
- Enabled - when checked, the corresponding document type association is enabled and analyzed when the application is trying to determine the type of an opened document;
- Storage - displays the type of location where the framework configuration file is stored. Can be one of External (framework configuration is saved in a file) or Internal (framework configuration is stored in the application's internal options);
  Note: Note that if you set the Storage to Internal and the document type association settings are already stored in a framework file, the file content is saved in application's internal options and the file is removed.
- Priority - depending on the priority level, Oxygen XML Developer plugin establishes the order in which the existing document type associations are evaluated to determine the type of a document you are opening. It can be one of the following: Lowest, Low, Normal, High, Highest. You can set a higher priority to Document Type Associations you want to be evaluated first;
When expanding a Document Type Association its defined rules are presented. A rule is described by:
- Namespace - specifies the namespace of the root element from the association rules set (* (any) by default). If you want to apply the rule only when the root element is in no namespace, leave this field empty (remove the ANY_VALUE string);
- Root local name - specifies the local name of the root element (* (any) by default);
- File name - specifies the name of the file (* (any) by default);
- Public ID - represents the Public ID of the matched document;
- Java class - presents the name of the Java class which is used to determine if a document matches the rule;
New - opens a dialog box that allows you to add a new association;
Edit - opens a new dialog allowing you to edit an existing association;
Note: If you try to edit an existing association type when you have no write permissions to its store location, a dialog box will be shown, asking if you want to duplicate the document type.
Delete - deletes the selected associations;
Enable DTD/XML Schema processing in document type detection - when this option is enabled, the matching process also examines the DTD/XML Schema associated with the document. For example, the fixed attributes declared in the DTD for the root element are also analyzed, if this is specified in the association rules.
This is especially useful if you are writing DITA customizations. DITA topics and maps are also matched by looking for the DITAArchVersion attribute of the root element. This attribute is specified as default in the DTD and it is detected in the root element, helping Oxygen XML Developer plugin to correctly match the DITA customization.

This option is enabled by default;
Only for local DTD's / XML Schemas - when the previous feature is enabled, you can choose with this option to process only the local DTD's / XML Schemas.
This option is enabled by default.