Navigating the Document Content in Author Mode

Using the Keyboard

Oxygen XML Editor allows you to quickly navigate through a document using the Tab key to move the cursor to the next XML node and Shift Tab to go to the previous one. If you encounter a space preserved element when you navigate through a document and you do not press another key, pressing the Tab key will continue the navigation. However, if the cursor is positioned in a space preserved element and you press another key or you position the cursor inside such an element using the mouse, the Tab key can be used to arrange the text.

To navigate one word forward or backwards, use Ctrl Right Arrow (Command Right Arrow on OS X), and Ctrl Left Arrow (Command Left Arrow on OS X), respectively. Entities and hidden elements are skipped. To position the cursor at the beginning or at the end of the document you can use Ctrl Home (Command Home on OS X), and Ctrl End (Command End on OS X), respectively.

Using the Navigation Toolbar

The locations of selected text are stored in an internal list that allows you to navigate between them with the

Back (Ctrl Alt Open Bracket (Meta Alt Open Bracket on OS X)) and

Forward (Ctrl Alt Close Bracket (Meta Alt Close Bracket on OS X)) buttons from the Navigation toolbar. The

Last Modification (Ctrl G (Meta G on OS X)) button automatically takes you to the latest edited text.

Using the Breadcrumb Helpers

A breadcrumb on the top stripe indicates the path from document root to the current element. It can also be used as a helpful tool to navigate to specific elements throughout the structure of the document.

Figure: The Breadcrumb in Author Mode

The last element is also highlighted by a thin light blue bar for easier identification. Clicking an element from the breadcrumb selects the entire element in the editor area. Also, each element provides a contextual menu with access to the following actions:

Edit Attributes: Opens the in-place attributes editor that allows you to easily edit the attributes of an element.
Edit Profiling Attributes: Allows you to select the profiling attributes that apply to a certain element.
Append child: Opens a content completion list that allows you to select an element to be inserted as a child of the selected element.
Insert before: Opens a content completion list that allows you to select an element to be inserted (as a sibling) before the selected element.
Insert after: Opens a content completion list that allows you to select an element to be inserted (as a sibling) after the selected element.
Cut: Removes the selected element and copies it to the clipboard, while preserving the styles of the content.
Copy: Copies the selected element to the clipboard, while preserving the styles of the copied content.
Paste: Pastes a well-formed element from the clipboard at currently selected position in the breadcrumb.
Paste before: Insert a well-formed element (from the clipboard) before the currently selected element.
Paste after: Insert a well-formed element (from the clipboard) after the currently selected element.
Paste as XML: Inserts clipboard content that is considered to be well-formed XML content.
Delete: Deletes the currently selected element.
Toggle Comment: Encloses the currently selected element in an XML comment, if the element is not commented, or removes the comment if it is commented.
Rename Element: Opens the Rename dialog box that allows you to rename the currently selected element and other elements with the same name.

Tip: The tag names displayed in the breadcrumb can be customized with an Author mode extension class that implements the AuthorBreadCrumbCustomizer API. See the Oxygen SDK for more details.

Using the Folding Support

When working with a large document, the folding support can be used to collapse some element content leaving only those that you need to edit in focus. Foldable elements are marked with a small triangle painted in the upper left corner (

). If you hover over that arrow, the entire content of the element is highlighted by a dotted border for quick identification of the foldable area. The following actions are available in the Folding sub-menu of the contextual menu or from the Document > Folding menu:

Toggle Fold (or you can simply click on the / arrow): Toggles the state of the current fold.
Collapse Other Folds (Ctrl NumPad / (Meta NumPad / on OS X)): Folds all the elements except the current element.
Collapse Child Folds (Ctrl NumPad . (Meta NumPad . on OS X)): Folds the child elements that are indented one level inside the current element.
Expand Child Folds: Unfolds all child elements of the currently selected element.
Expand All (Ctrl NumPad * (Meta NumPad * on OS X)): Unfolds all elements in the current document.

Using the Linking Support

When working on multiple documents that reference each other (references, external entities, XInclude, DITA conref, etc), the linking support is useful for navigating between the documents. In the predefined customizations that are bundled with Oxygen XML Editor, links are marked with an icon representing a chain link (

). When hovering over the icon, the mouse pointer changes its shape to indicate that the link can be accessed and a tooltip presents the destination location. Click the link to open the referenced resource in the editor or system browser. The same effect can be obtained by using the Document > File > Open file at cursor (Ctrl Enter (Meta Enter on OS X)) action when the cursor is inside a link element.

Note: Depending on the referenced file type, the target link will either be opened in the Oxygen XML Editor or in the default system application. If the target file does not exist, Oxygen XML Editor prompts you to create it.