Using Column View
Column view is the default view for DITA Map and DITA BookMap documents. Arbortext Editor includes some additional user interface features for working with DITA maps that are not available for other document types. Refer to the documentation for the authoring DITA documents for more information on using Column view with DITA maps. This topic provides an overview of using the different Column view components.
Displaying Column View
When Column view is enabled for a document type, you can display Column view in the following ways:
• Select > to display Column view in the Arbortext Editor window or active window pane.
• Select the Alt+Ctrl+L keyboard shortcut to display Column view in the Arbortext Editor window or active window pane.
Modifying the Displayed Columns
You can modify the columns displayed in Column view in the following ways:
• Select the
Show Multiple Columns button (
) button in the
Outline column to display the columns currently defined in the
Columns category of the
Preferences dialog box.
• Select the
Show Single Column button (
) button in the
Outline column to only display the
Outline column.
This menu enables you to display just the Outline column, to display the columns currently defined in the Columns category of the Preferences dialog box, or to open the Preferences dialog box to configure the displayed columns.
• Use the
Columns category of the
Preferences dialog box to configure the displayed columns.
You can open the Columns category through the Configure Columns choice on the Column view heading shortcut menu or through the > menu choice.
• Change the width of individual columns by hovering the mouse pointer over a column border in the Column view heading and dragging the border.
Using the Outline Column
The Outline column provides a structural view of your document. You can use the Outline column to view and change the structure of your document. Clicking the Home key always moves the focus to the Outline column.
Click on the plus sign (
) next to a level of the outline to expand that level in the hierarchy. Click on the minus sign (
) to collapse a hierarchy level. Double-click on the plus or minus sign to completely expand or collapse that part of the outline hierarchy. You can also use the
Column view cursor to expand and collapse hierarchy levels. When the cursor is positioned below an element in the hierarchy that has child elements, the right arrow key expands the hierarchy and the left arrow key collapses a hierarchy level. The position of the Column view cursor also determines the element affected by
Insert Markup, delete, and similar operations.
Click on an element icon to select that element. Double-click on an element icon or click on the icon of a currently selected element to select that element and any child elements. Click inside a selected area to clear the selection.
Once you have selected an element, you can use drag-and-drop to move that element to a different place in the document hierarchy. You can also open the Modify Attributes dialog box for a selected element through the > menu choice.
Hold down the CTRL key and click the left mouse button on an element icon to open an Edit view for that part of the document.
Using the Attribute Value Columns
The attribute value columns contain the current value for the attribute associated with the column. If the attribute does not currently have a value, then the cell for that element is empty. If an attribute does not exist for a particular element, the following icon appears in the cell:
. If the value of an attribute is truncated, as indicated by ellipses at the start or end of the cell, hover the mouse pointer over the cell to view the full value in a tooltip.
Click on an attribute value cell to select that cell. You can use the arrow keys to change the selected cell. Double-click on a cell to open that cell for modification. You can also use the F2 key or just start typing to open a selected cell for modification. When you have modified the value in a cell, click on another cell or use the Enter key to accept the modified value. Use the Esc key to cancel any modifications and close the cell.
Using the Modify Attributes Column
The modify attributes column enables you to view the attributes that currently have non-default values for the associated element. The modify attributes column contains one of the following icons:
• 
— Indicates the element's attributes currently have no assigned values besides default values.
Click on this icon to open the Modify Attributes dialog box for the associated element.
• 
— Indicates some of the element's attributes have non-default assigned values that are not currently open in the inline attribute display.
Click on this icon to open the attributes with non-default values in the inline attribute display. On Windows, you can edit the attribute values in the inline display. You can also open the Modify Attributes dialog box for the associated element through the > menu choice.
• 
— Indicates some of the element's attributes have non-default values that are currently open in the inline attribute display.
Click on this icon to close the inline attribute display. Click on the name of an attribute to open the Modify Attributes dialog box with that attribute highlighted. Click on the attribute's value to open that value for inline modification. You can also open the Modify Attributes dialog box for the associated element through the > menu choice.
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