Setting the insertion point in XML lists

Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Hi all,
today I noticed a strange difference of FrameMaker's behaviour when working with lists in different DTDs.
In a normal DITA topic, when I click with the mouse pointer behind the end of a list item (paragraph inside an Li element), then the insertion marker in the structure is always set OUTSIDE of the P element. Only if I click directly into the text of the paragraph, then FM places the insertion marker into the P element. If the paragraph is empty, it is not possible at all to get the insertion marker inside the P element in the editor view, only in the structure view.
Now, working with another proprietary DTD, I noticed a difference. In these documents if I click anywere in the same line behind the end of the text them FM automatically puts the insertion marker inside the P element. This even happens when the paragraph is empty.
I tried to illustrate this with a screenshot below. You can see that I clicked into the white space and the insertion point is inside the paragraph.
Is there any way to force this latter behaviour in DITA topics as well? I like it because I can click behind a list entry and start writing right away without selecting the correct insertion point in the structure view first. Besides that I am curious what the reason for this difference is.
Robert
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Robert,
I don't know what the answer is, but I was able to duplicate this behavior. Very interesting. Under normal conditions, if element boundaries are hidden, the insertion point should arrive inside the nearest text-containing element, which is the latter case you are seeing. However, a DITA file is certainly different and I don't know why.
Perhaps there is something going on under the covers that we don't know about. In a DITA file, it does allow you to press Enter to get a new list item, but I agree it would be more convenient to allow immediate text entry instead. I suppose you could debate which activity an author is more likely to desire when clicking in this location.
Russ

