Author Callouts

A callout is a vertical stripe, with a balloon-like look, that Oxygen XML Editor displays in the right side of the editing area. Callouts are decorated with a colored border and also have a colored background. A horizontal line, which has the same color as the border, connects text fragments with their corresponding callouts. Oxygen XML Editor assigns an individual color for the callouts depending on the user who is editing the document. To customize the list of these colors, open the Preferences dialog box and go to Editor > Edit Modes > Author > Review. You are able to add, edit, or remove colors in this list. You can choose to use the same color for any user who modifies the content or inserts a comment. To do this, select the fixed option and choose a color from the color box. Once you set a fixed color for a user you are able to edit it. Press the color box and select a different color from the Choose color dialog box.

Oxygen XML Editor uses callouts to provide an enhanced view of the changes you, or other authors make to a document. They hold specific information depending on their type. In addition, Oxygen XML Editor uses callouts to display comments that you associate with fragments of the document you are editing. For more information about editing comments, go to Managing Comments. To enable callouts, open the Preferences dialog box and go to Editor > Edit Modes > Author > Review > Callouts. Enable the following options:

Comments - Oxygen XML Editor displays comment callouts when you insert a comment. You can use two types of comments in Oxygen XML Editor:
- Author Review Comments - Comments that you associate with specific fragments of text.
- Callout Comments - Comments that you add in an already existing insertion or deletion callout.
By default, the fragment of text that you comment is highlighted and a horizontal line connects it with the comment callout. A comment callout contains the name of the author who inserts the callout and the comment itself. To customize how comments are displayed, open the Preferences dialog box, go to Editor > Edit Modes > Author > Review > Callouts, and enable Show review time.

Figure: Comment Callouts

Track Changes deletions - Oxygen XML Editor displays deletion callouts when you delete a fragment of text. By default, a deletion callout contains the type of callout (Deleted) and the name of the author that makes the deletion. You are able to customize the content of a deletion callout to display the date and time of the deletion and the deleted fragment itself. To do this, open the Preferences dialog box, go to Editor > Edit Modes > Author > Review > Callouts, and enable Show review time and Show deleted content in callout.

Figure: Deletion Callouts

Track Changes insertions - Oxygen XML Editor displays insertion callouts when you insert a fragment of text. By default, an insertion callout contains the type of callout (Inserted) and the name of the author that makes the insertion. You are able to customize the content of an insertion callout to contain the date and time of the insertion and the inserted fragment itself. Open the Preferences dialog box, go to Editor > Edit Modes > Author > Review > Callouts, and enable Show review time and Show inserted content in callout.

Figure: Insertion Callouts

Figure: Multiple Authors Callouts

Note: Oxygen XML Editor displays callouts only if

View All Changes/Comments or

View Only Changes/Comments by is selected. Oxygen XML Editor does not display callouts in

View Final and

View Original modes.

To select a callout, either click the callout or its source. Selected callouts have a more intense background and a bold border. The connecting line between the source and the callout is also rendered in bold font. If you select a fragment of text which is associated with one or more callouts, the callouts are highlighted.

Important: The callouts are displayed in the right side of the editing area. However, in some cases, the text you are editing can span into the callouts area. For example, this situation can appear for callouts associated with wide images or space-preserve elements (like codeblock in DITA or programlisting in DocBook) which contain long fragments. To help you view the text under the covered area, Oxygen XML Editor applies transparency to these callouts. When the cursor is located under a callout, the transparency is enhanced, allowing you to both edit the covered content and access the contextual menu of the editing area.

Figure: Transparent Callout

Note: Oxygen XML Editor does not display callouts located in folded areas of the edited document.

The following actions are available in the contextual menu of an insertion or deletion callout:

Accept Change - Select this option to accept the changes you or other authors make to a document.
Reject Change - Select this option to reject the changes you or other authors make to a document.
Comment Change - Select this option to comment an existing change in your document. You are also able to add a comment to a change from the Comment Change button available on the Review toolbar.
Edit Reference - If the fragment that contains a callout is a reference, use this option to go to the reference and edit the callout.
Callouts Options - Select this option to open a preferences page where you can configure the callout options.

The following options are available in the contextual menu of a comment callout:

Edit Comment - Select this option to modify the content of a comment callout.
Note: The text area is disabled if you are not the author which inserted the comment.
Remove Comment - Select this option to remove a comment callout.
Edit Reference - If the fragment that contains a callout is a reference, use this option to go to the reference and edit the callout.
Callouts Options - Select this option to open a preferences page where you can configure the callout options.

When you print a document from Oxygen XML Editor, all callouts you, or other authors added to the document are printed. For a preview of the document and its callouts, go to File > Print preview.

To watch our video demonstration about the Callouts support, go to http://oxygenxml.com/demo/CalloutsSupport.html.