Modify Attributes Dialog Box
Use the settings in the Modify Attributes dialog box to set or change attribute values of the markup to the left of the cursor. If the markup to the left of the cursor is an entity reference, marked section, comment, element with no attributes, or processing instruction, then the Modify Attributes dialog box is unavailable.
The attributes and available attribute values in this dialog box are dependent on the element selected and the document type.
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If you have applied an alias map to your document, this dialog box will list aliases, rather than real names, for attributes and attribute values that have been assigned an alias. If the alias map includes attribute descriptions, the description will display at the bottom of the Modify Attributes dialog box when you place your cursor over the label of an attribute with a description.
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As a default, attributes are grouped into categories and the dialog box is displayed in a tabbed layout based on those categories. The document type administrator can define attribute categories in the document type’s DCF file. Refer to
Defining categories for attributes for information about the markup to be used.
For XML document types attributes are generally listed in alphabetical order. If the attributes are categorized, you can use the
sort attribute for
ModifyAttributeCategory in the DCF file to sort them. For SGML documents, attributes names are listed in the order they are defined in the document type by default. To list the attributes alphabetically, set the
Advanced Preferencemodifyattrsorted value to
on.
Modify Attributes dialog boxes include the following characteristics:
• A red asterisk next to an attribute name indicates that its value is required. If the requireattrs preference is set to on (the default) then the Modify Attributes dialog box opens automatically when a tag with a required attribute is inserted in a document. In the case, the cursor is placed in the first required attribute.
• Attribute names displayed in blue indicate values have been modified. These appear on the tag in the Edit pane.
• Attribute names displayed in black indicate that the values, if any, are the defaults set by the document type.
• A list after an attribute shows the available values. These are determined by the document type.
• A text box after an attribute lets you enter text or numbers. You can enter text or numbers for attributes such as ID and IDREF.
• A
Generate an ID button
next to a text field lets you generate a unique ID for an attribute defined as ID in the document type or DCF file. The presence of the button is customizable in the document type. System administrators can customize ID generation via the
generate_id() callback.
• A drop down list displays all defined IDs in the current document for an attribute defined as IDREF in the document type.
• A
Browse button
next to a text field allows you to browse for directory paths or URLs.
• The element tag to which these attributes belong is displayed at the top of the dialog box.
• You can enter empty values for CDATA attributes. By default, deleting the last character for a CDATA attribute value results in the attribute being deleted from the tag. However, if you check the Allow Empty String Attribute Values option in the Edit category of the Preferences dialog box, you can enter empty values for CDATA attributes.
In this case, you can place the cursor in a field for a CDATA attribute, type a character, and backspace to delete the character. The attribute name will remain displayed in blue to show that an attribute value exists, even if it is empty. Also, the phrase (empty string) appears as the value for that attribute. To always delete a CDATA attribute regardless of how the preference is set, place the cursor in the desired field and click the Delete button.
• If you enter an invalid value, the dialog box will not close. The attribute name with the invalid value will be displayed in red.
• If a document type defines a default value for an attribute, it will not show up in the Modify Attributes dialog box, nor will it show up in the tag for that element. If you want the default value to appear, enter a different value, save your changes, and then enter the default value.
• If a document type's
.dcf file defines an attribute as
read-only, you can view the value of that attribute in the
Modify Attributes dialog box but you cannot change it.
• If a document type's
.dcf file defines an attribute as a
profiling attribute, you can view the value of that attribute in the
Modify Attributes dialog box but you cannot change it. A button (
) appears next to the attribute that invokes the
Apply Profiles dialog box.
• If you are modifying the attributes of an intelligent graphic or a link to an intelligent graphic, the dialog box might contain the following special attributes:
◦ xmlns:atgra — This is a read-only attribute that references a special namespace associated with PTC Arbortext’s intelligent graphics support.
◦ atgra:links — This is a read-only attribute that contains information about the links stored inside of the intelligent graphic.
If you want to modify the links, there is a button
next to the attribute that opens the
Update Graphic Object Links dialog box. Use this dialog box to modify the links. If you delete the value of the file (
fileref) or entity (
entityref) reference attributes, the value of this attribute is removed as well.
◦ atgra:linkdata — This is a read-only attribute that determines the action that occurs in an intelligent graphic when a link is selected.
If you want to modify this action, select the link and right-click to bring up the Edit view shortcut menu. Select Modify Link from the menu and use the Modify Link dialog box to change the properties of the link.
• If you are editing the value of an inline applicability attribute (for example appl:applic), you have two options:
◦ Edit the value manually in the text field
In this case, the modified applicability expression cannot be validated against the applicability syntax.
◦ Click the
Modify Inline Applicability
button to invoke the
Modify Inline Applicability dialog box
The attribute that represents inline applicability settings is defined in the applicability syntax for the current
PTC Arbortext environment. For more information, see
Confirm Applicability SyntaxThe applicability attribute is usually listed in the Other tab of the Modify Attributes dialog box.
The appearance of the Modify Attributes dialog box may vary depending on the kind and number of attributes in the document. However, it usually contains the following:
• Attribute information — Several fields displaying attribute values as determined by the document type. Lists with modification options may appear to the right of some fields.
• New Attribute — (Free-form XML documents and elements in a namespace not declared in the document type) Text field in which you enter the new attribute name.
• Add — (Free-form XML documents and elements in a namespace not declared in the document type) Appends the attribute in the New Attribute field to the list of existing attributes.
• OK — Validates and applies changes before closing the dialog box. If validation identifies errors:
1. An error message box detailing all errors is presented. In the error message box, click Close to dismiss the box.
2. Correct the error in the Modify Attributes dialog box. The name of the field that has the error is shown in red.
3. Click OK to close the dialog box when all errors are corrected. You will see a confirmation message that no errors have been found.
• Cancel — Closes the dialog box.
• Help — Displays the online help.
• 
(
Validate) — Verifies that all entered values are valid, but does not apply changes or close the dialog box.
Validate is not available for documents using the Free-form XML document type.
• 
(
Reset) — For the field the cursor is in, resets the changed attribute value to the value it had when you opened the dialog box.
• 
(
Delete) — For the field the cursor is in, removes that attribute value.
• 
(
Delete All) — Removes all modified attribute value settings, returning them to their original unmodified state.
DITA Document Options
The
Modify Attributes dialog box includes the following additional options when you are editing a
DITA document:
• Browsing support for
conref,
href, and similar attributes — When you invoke the
Modify Attributes dialog box on a DITA document, a button (
) appears next to attributes such as
conref and
href that reference another file. This button invokes the
Resource Manager for modifying attributes. You can use the
Resource Manager to browse in your file system or content management system (CMS) for a document or element to reference with the attribute.
• Profiling attribute support — A button (
) appears next to DITA attributes that are generally used for profiling (
audience,
platform,
product, and
otherprops). You cannot modify the value of these attributes in the
Modify Attributes dialog box. Selecting the button invokes the
Apply Profiles dialog box, where you can choose the profile to apply to the attribute.
Modifying Attributes for Invalid Markup
This section describes the behavior of the dialog box for the following invalid markup conditions:
• Declared tags with declared attributes with invalid values.
• Declared tags with undeclared attributes.
• Undeclared tags.
Choosing > will display the tags in the dialog box. Arbortext Editor will append the undeclared tag to the title of the dialog box if the tag is undeclared.
Arbortext Editor handles invalid attribute markup in the following ways:
• On entry — When the dialog box first appears, declared attributes with invalid values will be displayed in red. Any undeclared attributes will be displayed in red + strikethrough.
• Editing — You can modify the values for both declared and undeclared values. You can also delete any attribute (declared or undeclared) by using the Delete button or by manually deleting the attribute value.
• Validate — The Validate button will perform its normal function on declared attributes and will flag an undeclared attribute if all declared attributes are valid. If you delete the value for an undeclared attribute, the Validate feature will skip over it.
• Undeclared attributes — If any undeclared attributes exist, Arbortext Editor will let you adopt the changes so they can be dealt with later.
• Invalid value on entry and exit — If a declared attribute has an invalid attribute on entry, Arbortext Editor will let you adopt the changes without fixing these values.
• Valid on entry, invalid on exit — If an attribute value was valid on entry but is edited to be invalid, Arbortext Editor will NOT let you adopt the changes.
