In the atidefaults.bcf system-wide burst configuration file, you turn object reuse on or off globally using the objectreuse attribute of the createdefaults element. Set the attribute to on to turn on object reuse. Any other value for the attribute disables object reuse.

In each document-type-specific burst configuration file, the fileent and graphics attributes for the boundaryspec element control whether the PTC Server connection automatically imports the file and graphic entities and XML inclusions referenced within an imported document. If these attributes are not set to on, a referenced entity is not imported into the PTC Server at all. The references will continue to point to the current location of the entity file.

The PTC Server connection maintains information about all of the imported entities and XML inclusion objects that have been previously stored in a PTC Server as objects. If object reuse is enabled, a file or graphic has already been stored in the PTC Server from an earlier document import will not be recreated as a duplicate object in the PTC Server. A reference will be inserted into the imported document and the existing object (in the PTC Server) will be referenced.

If you use the same graphic in documents of different document types, the document that is imported first will store the graphic in the PTC Server using the burst configuration for that document type. When you import a document with a different document type that uses the same graphic, the PTC Server connection will reuse the graphic in the PTC Server, regardless of the location rules for this different document type's burst configuration.

In each document-type-specific burst configuration file, the filemapping attribute on the burstspec determines what information is maintained for imported objects. The filemapping attribute on the element, attrbndryrule, and xpathbndryrule elements determines what information is maintained for burst objects. You can use the filemapping attribute to turn object reuse off for specific document types or elements. For DITA documents, you can use the filemapping attribute to maintain additional information for imported objects.

The PTC Server connection maintains the following information for imported objects: