Restricting Editing in Documents

You can use the protection features in a document type's .dcf file to either restrict editing for the entire document type or to restrict editing of individual elements in a document type.

3. Locate the directory in which the document type whose .dcf file you want to modify is saved, and click Select.

4. Once the document type is loaded, choose Edit > DCF. If the document type has a .dcf file, it displays in the Arbortext ArchitectDCF Editor window. If there is no .dcf file associated with this document type, Arbortext Architect automatically creates one.

5. Locate the Options element in the DCF Editor. If the file doesn't include an Options element, add one.

Open the Document Type Viewer (Tools > Document Type Viewer) to view the element hierarchy for the .dcf file. This will help you determine the valid location for the Options element.

6. Place your cursor next to the Options element and choose Edit > Modify Attributes.

7. Choose yes in the protected field to restrict editing for the entire document type. When set to yes, authors cannot edit documents of this document type. The default setting is no.

9. If you want to specify elements that are exempt from this protection, locate the ElementOptions element in the DCF Editor. If the file doesn't include an ElementOptions element, add one.

10. Place your cursor next to the ElementOptions element, choose Insert > Markup, and then choose ElementOption.

11. Click next to the ElementOption element to open the Modify Attributes dialog box.

You must have the Force Required Attributes EntryEdit preference selected for this dialog box to open automatically.

12. In the element field, select the element that you want to allow editing within.

13. Choose no in the protected field to allow authors to edit the content of the specified element. The default setting is default.

3. Locate the directory in which the document type whose .dcf file you want to modify is saved, and click Select.

5. Locate the ElementOptions element in the DCF Editor. If the file doesn't include an ElementOptions element, add one.

Open the Document Type Viewer (Tools > Document Type Viewer) to view the element hierarchy for the .dcf file. This will help you determine the valid location for the ElementOptions element.

6. Place your cursor next to the ElementOptions element, choose Insert > Markup, and then choose ElementOption.

7. Click next to the ElementOption element to open the Modify Attributes dialog box.

You must have the Force Required Attributes EntryEdit preference selected for this dialog box to open automatically.

8. In the element field, select the element for which you want to restrict editing.

9. Choose the level of protection you want for the element in the protected field. The protected field allows the following settings:

◦ contents — the element can be changed, but the contents of the element cannot be changed.

◦ default — the element inherits its protection setting from either its parent element or its document type.

◦ element — the element cannot be changed, but the contents of the element can be changed.

◦ elementDefault — the element cannot be changed. Whether the content of the element can be changed is inherited from either its parent element or its document type.

◦ full — the element and its contents cannot be changed. Also, the element and its contents are not displayed. You cannot select text in these regions, and the find and spell checking operations skip over them.

A protected element cannot be changed, deleted, or have its attributes modified. You can insert a protected element into a document, unless the contents of its parent tag are protected. When you delete selected text containing a protected element, the protected element remains after the deletion. The contents of the element also remain, unless the contents are not protected.