Document Types > Creating Aliases > Importing an Alias Map
  
Importing an Alias Map
You can import an existing alias map as the starting point for a new alias map. Use this method if you want to create an alias map that is similar to the existing one.
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You can import any .alias file into the Alias Map Editor, even those that are not based on the selected document type. However, if you create an alias for an element, attribute, or attribute value that does not exist in the selected document type, Arbortext Editor will ignore these aliases when you apply the alias map to a document.
To import an alias map:
1. Open Arbortext Architect.
2. Choose File > Open.
3. Locate the directory in which the document type is saved and click OK.
4. Choose Edit > Aliases to open the Alias Map Editor.
5. Choose File > New.
The New dialog box opens.
6. In the New dialog box, select Import From and click OK.
The Alias Map Import dialog box opens.
7. In the Alias Map Import dialog box, locate the alias map file you want to import and click Open.
The dialog box closes and the imported alias map displays in the Alias Map Editor.
The Alias Map Editor defaults to the Document Map view. If you would like to work from an Edit view, choose View > Edit View to change to the Edit view.
8. Place your cursor to the right of the corresponding alias tag, and type an alias name.
There are several guidelines you must follow when creating an alias. To ensure that Arbortext Editor does not interpret an alias as an entity, notation, or marked section, aliases should not begin with ampersands, exclamation points, or percent signs. Also, aliases cannot contain character entities. If an alias contains a character entity, ArbortextEditor will ignore any aliases defined in the alias map after the one containing the character entity.
Further, aliases cannot include the following characters, as they may be misinterpreted by ACL:
◦ Colons
◦ Semicolons
◦ Single or double quotes
◦ Dollar signs
◦ Left and right angle brackets
◦ Spaces
Aliases are always case sensitive, no matter how the NAMECASE GENERAL is set in an SGML declaration.
9. To add another element, attribute, or attribute value to the alias map, place your cursor to the immediate left of an existing element, attribute, or value tag (in between the tag and its associated book icon), and choose Insert > Markup.
10. In the Insert Markup dialog box, select element, attribute, or value, and click Insert. You can now add an alias for the element, attribute, or attribute value you just created.
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The Alias Map Editor will generate warnings and errors associated with invalid alias definitions during validation.
11. Perform the same steps to add or change global attribute and global attribute value aliases.
12. When you have finished creating aliases, validate the alias map. To do this, choose Tools > Validate. If there are any warnings or errors associated with the alias map, they will display in an Alias Map Editor Error Messages window.
13. Choose File > Save to save this alias map. Arbortext Architect will add an .alias extension to the file name. For easy retrieval, you may want to save the alias map to the directory where the document type is located.