How do I edit or remove text automatically added to a DITA layout?

[ohnehosen]

I'm evaluating FM11 with an eye toward using it to author our print manuals (along with all the reuse stuff that DITA will allow). I have some experience with DITA authoring in other applications, but FM is new to me.

It's going to be up to me and a colleague to demonstrate how FM is an improvement over our current manual process (InDesign). One thing we need to demonstrate in particular is how we'll retain complete control over layout appearances (something we don't easily get in our other XML authoring tool).

I've been playing with the "New" DITA task/reference/concept templates as they open, and I'm troubled to see that text automatically appears in some places and I can't edit it or delete it. For instance, an <info> tag adds the text "ADDITIONAL INFORMATION". We may not want that text to appear in our layouts, or we may want to change it. At the very least, I'll need to demonstrate that I have control over text like this. 

I've looked through Reference Pages, EDDs, DTDs, INIs, and several other places, and I can't nail down the source of the (potentially) unwanted text. Can someone point me in the right direction?

[ScottPrentice · Accepted solution]

Hi ohnehosen...

These strings are defined in the EDD, as autonumber text in the paragraph style, or on the reference pages. It sounds like you've checked all those places, but they *are* there. One problem that you may be running into with FM11 is that you're likely using DITA 1.2, and for DITA 1.2 there is a separate structure application for each topic type. That means you'll have different EDDs and templates to search through. If you modify an EDD you'll be needing to import that into the corresponding template.

I strongly suggest that instead of modifying the default structure apps, you first clone the defaults to names of your own. Then you modify your custom apps and leave the default apps available unmodified for testing. You *will* break the apps at some point (everyone does), and without the default unmodified apps available for testing.

If you don't need the DITA 1.2 model, you might consider using the DITA 1.1 apps, which (I believe) are just one app for all topic types.

OR .. if you want a far simpler and reliable option for PDF publishing from DITA, you might check out DITA-FMx. This is a product that I sell, but it provides enhanced DITA authoring and publishing tools in FrameMaker ..

    http://leximation.com/dita-fmx/

Cheers,

...scott

Scott Prentice

Leximation, Inc.

www.leximation.com

[ohnehosen]

It looks like they're in the paragraph style. I feel like I looked there, but I probably missed it because I wasn't of a mind to look for text strings in "autoNUMBER".

Thanks for the help!