Can open Topics by drag & drop, but not by double-clicking in the DITA map

Report · May 28, 2014

Hi,

evidently I made an error somewhere in my structure app, the result is that I cannot open DITA topics by double clicking them in the DITA map anymore (Framemaker does simpy nothing). I can, however, open them by dragging the xml files onto the Framemaker window. If I use the standard DITA 1.2 application everything works fine so I guess the problem is in my mapping.

Here is what I tried to achieve:

We need certain variations of the normal 'topic' type topic. The DTD should be identical, however different structures should be auto-inserted when creating a topic and the topic should have certain attribute values predefined.
The idea is that the author can select one of these topic types when creating a topic, but when opening an existing topic simply edit it with the standard topic temple.

Here is what I did:

I duplicated the topic.template.fm, renaming it say "topic_a.template.fm", "topic_b.template.fm" etc. (just an example).
I made adjustments to the EDD of these templates, changing the auto-insertions and the default values of some attributes.
In the structapps.fm file I added XML applications for these new topic types, mapping each application to one of the new templates, but to the original topic DTD and r/w rules. E.g. the application "DITA_1.2_topic_a" is mapped to the "topic_a.template.fm" template, and to the original "topic.dtd" and "topic.rules.txt" files.
In Framemaker I then created corresponding application mappings in the DITA options. E.g. the topic type "A" (which defines the visible text in the "New topic" menu) is maped to the XML application "DITA_1.2_topic_a".

The result:

It works as intended in every way when creating topics. The topics are saved with the standard doctype 'topic'. However for when I try to open topics from the DTD by double-clicking then nothing happens. Opening topics by drag & drop works fine though and they are opened with the normal (general) "topic.template.fm" template as desired.

Any ideas? Was this confusing or am I completely off somewhere?

Robert

Report · May 28, 2014

Hi Robert...

When you say that you need "variations" from the normal topic type .. are those structural variations or just formatting? FM associates structure apps with XML files based on the doctype (root element). If your files all have the same root element, then they will all open with the same structure application (unless you specify a different one when opening the file or by importing a new EDD). It sounds like you really should be creating a specialization for each alternate topic type. If you don't, you'll end up getting the wrong "model" assigned to the wrong file.

Multiple EDDs (structure apps) can share the same DTD, and one EDD (structure app) can support multiple models. This is how the "ditabase" app works. There are lots of ways to set this up, but I think what you've done is probably not quite right.

The default structure app setup in FM11 and FM12 is very complicated to work with. I recommend creating a single app that supports many models. This isn't always possible, but it sounds like in your case it should be. I've set up one app that supports 13 different specialized topic models and it works fine.

Note that even though you've added structure apps for each model, if you end up opening the files using the default template, you are no longer using those modified models.

Sorry, but this is a bit more than can be dealt with appropriately in a forum post. If you'd like more help with this, feel free to contact me off list.

Cheers,

…scott

Scott Prentice

Leximation, Inc.

www.leximation.com

Report · May 30, 2014

Hi Scott,

thanks for the comments I will evidently need to look a bit deeper into it.

> "If your files all have the same root element, then they will all open with the same structure application"

Actually that is intended. All topics have the same doctype and when they are opened, they should use the same application (and template).

What I did was only intended to make the creation of frequently used content more convenient. Say if you want to write a topic with a certain set of tables, you select "New Topic" > "Topic with tables" and Framemaker uses the corresponding template that auto-inserts these tables. Also in the EDD of this template, the default attribute values are set so that you automatically get the table type you need.

What confused me is that is works fine and I can also open topics manually, only opening from the DITA map by double-click does not work any more.

Robert

Report · May 30, 2014

I just noticed.. when I insert a new topicref into the DITA map, then double-clicking works. Only after I save the DITA map and open it again later the double-clicking does not work any more.

Report · Jun 02, 2014

Ah .. I see, you're just starting with different "templates" to pre-populate certain types of content. I know you're not looking to go down the plugin route, but that's one of the features in DITA-FMx, which I call "element templates". You can create boilerplate content for each topic type, then when you use the New DITA File command, the dialog (where you enter the title and filename) provides a list box from which to select the element template (optional) to use for that topic. The new file is created with the specified content and structure, and you just continue. No need for multiple apps or messing with setting things up differently.

As for the dbl-clicking problem .. it's hard to say. It could be caused by your app customization or it could be an FM12 bug.

Thanks,

…scott