| Oracle® Fusion Middleware Template Editor Guide for Dynamic Converter 11g Release 1 (11.1.1) E10635-01 |
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Home > Template Editor Guide for D... > Element Setup
| Oracle® Fusion Middleware Template Editor Guide for Dynamic Converter 11g Release 1 (11.1.1) E10635-01 |
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Home > Template Editor Guide for D... > Element Setup
The following Classic HTML Conversion Editor topics are covered in this section:
Element Setup is one of four property sheets in the Classic HTML Conversion Editor used to edit templates. In Element Setup you can review the elements generated for the ranks applied to your source document, create new ranks and elements, and control the treatment of content in the web pages you create.
You can open Element Setup at any time in Classic HTML Conversion Editor by clicking the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-1).
The Classic HTML Conversion Editor uses elements as "handles" to format the content of source documents and associate the ranks in those documents (as well as any styles or patterns you may have created) with the HTML tags that control the appearance of web pages. The Classic HTML Conversion Editor does this automatically, so you don't need to worry about the HTML tags themselves.
When you check a source document into Content Server, you choose a template for the document and Classic HTML Conversion Editor automatically applies ranks to the content of the document, and generates a corresponding element for each rank and places those elements in the template. You can create additional ranks or styles or patterns, and create elements to assign to them.
You create the look of a particular Web page by editing the template that is associated with the source document. Some of the instructions apply to the template itself, but most apply to the individual elements in the template.
Elements lists throughout Classic HTML Conversion Editor can help you select the elements to edit. For example, an Elements list is always available in Formatting, no matter which tabbed dialog you're working in, and the currently selected element is always highlighted on the list.
The following topics are covered in this section:
When you check a document into Content Server, Dynamic Converter applies a default set of ranks in the template to content: Lowest 1, Title, Lowest 2, Heading 1. These ranks are designed to identify content hierarchy in source documents so that top-level content, in particular, can be handled consistently. At the same time, Dynamic Converter generates an element for each rank. The elements are saved in the template.
You can create additional ranks, as well as styles and pattern to provide greater control over content.
To change an element assignment:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-2), then click Elements to open that tab.
The green check marks and the red crosses in the In Body column indicate whether content associated with an element has been assigned to the body (Web) page.
Under Name, select the element you want to re-assign.
Right-click the green check mark or red cross that you want to change.
From the popup menu that appears, choose the cross or check mark you want to use instead. The popup menu closes and the association is now changed.
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Note: With the element selected, you can also click Properties to open that dialog box and change the association there. The Properties dialog box provides an additional option to include content associated with an element in Meta tags in the Head of HTML files. See "Placing an Element in a Meta Tag" |
Elements contain a number of properties you can change in Element Properties in Element Setup.
To change the property of an element:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-3), then click Elements to open that tab.
From the Elements list, right-click the name of the element you want to change and choose Properties from the popup menu (or select the element and click the Properties button).
In the Element Properties property sheet, click the appropriate tab to open and make the changes you want.
Click OK.
When you view the Elements list in Formatting or elsewhere, you will see the following:
It is important to understand the different kinds of elements and how they are listed throughout Template Editor. The elements in the above list are presented alphabetically as follows:
| Icon | Description |
|---|---|
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Paragraph elements. These are derived from styles or patterns in the source document, or have been associated with ranks. |
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Character elements. These are derived from character styles or pattern matching on special formatting in the source document. |
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System paragraph elements. These are common to all templates and cannot be removed. |
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System character element. Default Character is the only such element. |
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Paragraph elements not currently assigned to any rank, style, or pattern are grayed out and placed below the bar. |
For more on the system paragraph elements, see "Special Elements".
Elements contain a number of properties you can change in Element Properties in Element Setup.
To change the name of an element:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-5), then click Elements to open that tab.
Right-click the element you want to change and choose Properties from the popup menu.
Click General to open that tab.
In the Name text box, type the new name for the element.
Click OK.
When you check a document into Content Server, Dynamic Converter applies a default set of ranks in the template to content: Lowest 1, Title, Lowest 2, Heading 1. These ranks are designed to identify content hierarchy in source documents so that top-level content, in particular, can be handled consistently. At the same time, Dynamic Converter generates an element for each rank. The elements are saved in the template.
You should:
Check that Dynamic Converter has successfully assigned the Title and Heading 1 ranks to the content. The best way is to open pass your cursor over the Preview window. A screentip displays the element associated with each portion of content.
Review content associated with Default Paragraph and decide how many new ranks you should create in order to identify the different kinds of content in your source documents and maximize your formatting options.
You can create new elements, if you want. For example, you might want to create unique elements for the patterns in your source documents. This will increase your formatting options.
To create a new element:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-6), then click Elements to open that tab.
Under Name, enter the name of the new element you want to create.
Change the default HTML tag <P>, if necessary.
Under Element Type, select Paragraph or Character.
Click OK to return to the Elements tab.
The new element appears grayed out at the bottom of the Elements list. Once you assign the element to a rank, style, or pattern, it becomes active and appears in regular type in the top portion of the list.
In most cases you will create a paragraph element. But you may need to create a character element for a character style or pattern, for example, if you want to search for a specific word or phrase in the document.
Elements contain a number of properties you can change in Element Properties in Element Setup.
The Split tab dialog is used to split a source document into a series of smaller body pages to facilitate viewing and downloading. You can split a source document on any element.
In the HTML Tags tab dialog you can place custom HTML tags before and after elements.
In the Meta Tag tab dialog you can give a name to the element when it is included in a Meta tag in the Head of the HTML file. You can also specify custom tags. (This tab dialog is available only when you edit a body page template.)
In the Events tab dialog you can specify an event for the element, that is, HTML or scripting code to be included in the tag for the element.
You can change element properties at any time (see "Changing Element Properties").
When you check a document into Content Server, Dynamic Converter creates a set of default ranks to apply to the content and generates an element for each rank. The elements are saved in the template.
Element Setup contains four tab dialogs that let you view ranks as well as any styles or patterns you create, along with the elements assigned to them. (A fifth tab dialog summarizes any metadata in the template.)
In the Elements tab dialog, you can:
Control the placement of content in the web page you create
Select an element to split a source document into a series of smaller web pages for ease of browsing and downloading, or split the document on hard page breaks in the source
You can assign an event handler to an element that is triggered by an event in your browser. Such an event handler might be onClick or onMouseOver. You could also include HTML code or JavaScript.
To assign an event handler or include HTML or scripting code:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-7), then click Elements to open that tab.
Select the element you want to assign an event handler to, and click Properties.
Click Include HTML or scripting code in the element's tag, and then click either Use the following or Use the contents of this file.
If you click Use the following, enter the code you want to use in the box provided.
If you click Use the contents of this file, enter the path and file name in the text box, or click Gallery to pick a file from the HTML Code folder in the Gallery.
Click OK.
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Note: To temporarily remove an event handler from an element but keep it available for future use, clear the Include HTML or scripting code in the element's tag check box. When you are ready to assign the event handler once more, select the check box. |
Any element can be placed in a Meta tag in the Head of your HTML files, to facilitate searches on your Web server. It can also be placed in your web pages (see "Placing an Element in your Web Pages") to be visible to users.
Dynamic Converter automatically creates elements for ranks in each template, but it does not do so for metadata (or styles and patterns). The standard metadata Keywords was created specially for the templates that ship with Dynamic Converter. You must make a metadata element-based (see "Making a Metadata Element-Based") in order to include it in your web pages.
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Note: Certain elements are automatically included in the Meta tag of your HTML files, so the following procedure may not be necessary. |
To place an element in a Meta tag:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-8), then click Elements to open that tab.
Select the element you want to include in the Head of your output HTML.
Click Properties to open the Element Properties dialog box.
In the General tab dialog, select Include in Head with Meta tag.
Click Meta Tag to open that tab dialog.
Select Use standard Meta tag and enter the name you want to appear within the Meta tag to describe this element. You may want to use the element name itself.
To use custom tags instead, click Use custom tags, select the appropriate check boxes, and enter the opening and closing tags in the text boxes. See "Using Custom Tags for New Metadata".
Click OK, and OK again.
For a metadata to appear in a Meta tag, it must exist in the source document. As with the elements for styles, patterns, and ranks, the metadata you create will apply to all source documents associated with the template you edit.
The order in which metadata are listed in the Metadata tab dialog of Element Setup determines the order in which the metadata will appear in the Meta tags of your HTML output. You can use drag-and-drop to move an element up or down the list of metadata. See "Ordering Metadata".
Any element can be placed in your web pages, to be visible to users. It can also be placed in a Meta tag (see "Placing an Element in a Meta Tag") in the Head of your HTML files, to facilitate searches on your web server.
Dynamic Converter automatically creates elements for ranks in each template, but it does not do so for metadata (or for styles and patterns). The standard metadata Keywords was created specially for the templates that ship with Dynamic Converter. You must make a metadata element-based (see "Making a Metadata Element-Based") in order to include it in your web pages.
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Note: Certain elements are automatically included in your Web pages, so the following procedure may not be necessary. |
To place a metadata in your web pages:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-9), then click Elements to open that tab.
Select the element associated with the metadata you want to include in your publication.
Click Properties to open the Element Properties dialog box. In the General tab dialog, by default, the element is already checked to appear in the Head of your HTML output files. You can also include the metadata in the body of your Web pages.
Select or clear the Include in Body check box, so that the appropriate metadata will display automatically in your Web page once you translate your publication.
Click OK, and OK again.
For a metadata to appear in your Web pages, it must exist in the source document (as standard or custom metadata). As with the elements for styles, patterns, and ranks, the metadata you create will apply to all source documents associated with the template you edit.
The order in which metadata are listed in the Metadata tab dialog of Element Setup determines the order in which the metadata will appear in the Meta tags of your HTML output. You can use drag-and-drop to move an element up or down the list of metadata. See "Ordering Metadata".
When you check a document into Content Server, Dynamic Converter applies a default set of ranks in the template to content: Lowest 1, Title, Lowest 2, Heading 1. These ranks are designed to identify content hierarchy in source documents so that top-level content, in particular, can be handled consistently. At the same time, Dynamic Converter generates an element for each rank. The elements are saved in the template.
You can remove an element, if you want. You may want to do this if you create duplicate styles under different names. You can associate both styles with a single element and remove the element you don't need.
To remove an element from a template:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-10), then click Elements to open that tab.
Select the element you want to remove and click Delete.
The rank, style, or pattern associated with the element is now associated with the Default Paragraph element. You can associate the rank, style, or pattern with another element, instead.
When you've finished removing elements, click OK.
You can change the association between a rank, style, or pattern and its element. You may want to do this if, say, you import two similar styles that you want to format the same way in a body page.
To change the association between a rank, style, or pattern and an element:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-11), then click Ranks, Styles, or Patterns to open the appropriate tab.
Depending on which tab dialog you are in, select the rank, style, or pattern you want to associate with a different element, and click Association.
In the Change Associations dialog box, select the new element from the elements list.
Click OK.
The new element associated with the rank, style, or pattern can be seen in the element column opposite the rank, style, or pattern name.
Dynamic Converter automatically creates a set of four default ranks when you check a document into Content Server, and also an element for each rank, which are saved to the template. The template will also contain a number of predefined elements that are part of any template and cannot be removed. These special elements represent special source content.
In addition, the sample templates that ship with Dynamic Converter (Academy.ttp, etc.) contain some pre-set elements that can be useful in many instances and can be deleted, if you want. These, a metadata and three character patterns, are listed first in the following table.
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Note: The Blank template, which is the default template used to create new templates, does not contain these four elements. |
| Icon | Element | Description |
|---|---|---|
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Keywords | Used for keyword metadata in source documents, which by default is included in the Meta tags of output pages. |
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Used for links in source documents that contain an email address. Formatting includes necessary HTML code to make such links active in output pages. | |
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HTTP | Used for links in source documents that use the HTTP protocol. Formatting includes necessary HTML code to make such links active in output pages. |
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Weblink | Used specifically for links in source documents to the World Wide Web. Formatting includes necessary HTML code to make such links active in output pages. |
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Address (System) | Used to format the address information entered on the Address tab of the Globals property sheet. |
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Default Paragraph | Associated with any paragraph not matched by a style or pattern. |
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Email (System) | Used to format the email information entered on the Address tab of the Globals property sheet. |
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Title (System) | Used to format the title information entered on the Titles tab of the Globals property sheet. |
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Default Character | Associated with any character style or pattern that is not associated with a character element. |
Elements contain a number of properties you can change in Element Properties in Element Setup.
The Split property lets you split a long source document into a series of smaller Web pages to simplify navigation and facilitate downloading. Each Web page becomes a separate HTML file in the process.
To split a source document into several web pages:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-12), then click Elements to open that tab.
From the Elements list, select the element you want to use to split the source document.
Right-click the red cross in the Split column opposite the element and choose the green tick mark from the popup menu that appears. (You can also click Properties and in the Split tab dialog click the Split the source document into multiple output pages check box.)
When Dynamic Converter splits a source document, it starts the second Web page with the second instance of the element. It creates a new Web page for each instance of the element after that. To split a document beginning with the first instance of the element, clear the appropriate check box in the Options tab dialog of Globals.
In addition to or instead of splitting on an element, you can use hard page breaks to create multiple output pages (see "Using Hard Page Breaks to Create Multiple Output Pages").
As an alternative to splitting a source document on an element (see "Splitting a Source Document Into Several Web Pages"), you can use the hard page breaks of your source document to create multiple output pages.
To create multiple output pages with hard page breaks:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-13), then click Elements to open that tab.
Click Split the source document into multiple output pages at each hard page break.
Click OK.
When you translate your source document, Dynamic Converter will create a new Web page for each hard page break in each source document associated with the template.
The following topics are covered in this section:
When you check a document into Content Server, Dynamic Converter applies a default set of ranks in the template to content: Lowest 1, Title, Lowest 2, Heading 1. These ranks are designed to identify content hierarchy in source documents so that top-level content, in particular, can be handled consistently. At the same time, Dynamic Converter generates an element for each rank. The elements are saved in the template.
The following table shows a simple example of what would happen for two documents with the manually formatted styles shown:
| Content | Doc A | Doc B | Rank | Element |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Times 20 pt Bold | Arial 16pt Bold | Title | Title |
| First level Heading | Times 14 pt Italic | Arial 12 pt Bold | Heading 1 | Heading 1 |
| Other Heading | Times 12 pt Underscore | Lowest 2 | Default Paragraph | |
| Caption | Times 9 pt Bold | Lowest 2 | Default Paragraph | |
| Text | Times 10 pt | Times 9 pt | Lowest 1 | Default Paragraph |
With ranks, Dynamic Converter doesn't recognize the complete variety of content your source documents might contain. But Dynamic Converter can recognize content that helps define the top-level hierarchy of your source documents and thus successfully format the most important content in your source documents
Note how Dynamic Converter determines which portion of content should be designated. The order of Title, Heading 1, Lowest 1, or Lowest 2 is determined by Rank Rules. You can customize these. See "Rank Rules".
When you check a document into Content Server, Dynamic Converter applies a default set of ranks in the template to content: Lowest 1, Title, Lowest 2, Heading 1. These ranks are designed to identify content hierarchy in source documents so that top-level content, in particular, can be handled consistently. At the same time, Dynamic Converter generates an element for each rank. The elements are saved in the template.
You can create additional patterns (and ranks and styles), if you want.
After initial setup, you may create a number of additional ranks for a particular template only to discover later that one or more of the ranks is no longer needed. You can easily remove any rank from a template.
To remove a rank from a template:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-14), then click Ranks to open that tab.
Under Rank, select the rank you want to delete, and click Delete.
Click Elements to switch to the Elements tab dialog. The element is now grayed out, below the line.
Select the element and click Delete.
The content associated with that rank is now associated with the Default Paragraph element.
When you remove a rank, Dynamic Converter re-evaluates content in terms of the remaining ranks the next time you translate. If you deleted Title, Dynamic Converter would assign Heading 1 to content it formerly assigned Title to. So you should be careful how you delete ranks. Also, the element associated with the rank remains. You can associate the element with another rank or remove the element, too, from the template.
When you check a document into Content Server, Dynamic Converter applies a default set of ranks in the template to content: Lowest 1, Title, Lowest 2, Heading 1.
These are listed in the Ranks tab dialog of Element Setup, where you can:
Control the relationship between ranks and the elements assigned to them
Add new ranks
Delete unwanted ranks
Change the properties of ranks
Change the rank rules
The order of ranks in the Ranks tab dialog is important. Generally, you should not change it. See "Rank Order".
The hierarchy and frequency of each rank is summarized in the Properties box on the tab dialog.
Rank rules dictate how content in your source documents will be treated when Dynamic Converter assigns ranks to identify content hierarchy. They consist of "effects," which represent all possible characteristics of text. For ranking purposes, each effect has the properties "significance" and "order." By changing these, you change the rank rules that govern how Dynamic Converter assigns ranks.
The default settings can be seen in the Rank Rules dialog box (click Advanced on the Advanced tab dialog of Element Setup).
By default, hidden and strikethrough text have "negative" significance so that Dynamic Converter can quickly identify any content associated with these effects in the source documents and place that content at the bottom of its list.
The effects that matter are the "positive" ones, in order. By default, then, when Dynamic Converter applies ranks to source documents at translation, it places text with the largest font size at the highest hierarchical level.
Three effects can be especially important in Dynamic Converter: Color, Font, and Alignment. In addition to significance and order, you can change the properties of these effects in different ways. See "Changing the Color Property of a Rank", "Changing the Font Property of a Rank", and "Changing the Alignment Property of a Rank".
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Note: Rank rules work in conjunction with Rank Properties, in particular, Hierarchy and Frequency. |
Ranks contain properties that can be changed in the Ranks Properties dialog box in Element Setup. You can change the name of a rank and also the element assigned to it. You can also change the hierarchical level of the rank plus the frequency with which the rank appears in the source document. These properties are especially important when creating new ranks to help identify unique content in source documents. You may have to experiment with hierarchy and frequency to successfully identify unique content.
When you check a document into Content Server, Dynamic Converter applies a default set of ranks in the template to content: Lowest 1, Title, Lowest 2, Heading 1. It places those elements in the template you associate with the document.
These ranks are designed to identify content hierarchy in source documents so that top-level content, in particular, can be handled consistently Dynamic Converter use the following rules:
| Rank | Element | Availability | Number of Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest 1 | Default Paragraph | Lowest | Greater than 0 |
| Title | Title | Highest | Equals 1 |
| Lowest 2 | Default Paragraph | Lowest | Greater than 0 |
| Heading 1 | Heading 1 | Highest | Greater than 0 |
Dynamic Converter always looks first for content defined as the "lowest" because, in most instances, this will be your body text. Also, if one of your source documents is a text file, all the text will be in the same font size, and you wouldn't want the text designated Title. What Dynamic Converter identifies as body text will be determined by the rules used to create ranks. See "Rank Rules" for more information.
This order is important because ranks are set by Dynamic Converter at conversion. So if you changed the order, with Lowest 1 second and Title first, say, you would find Title assigned to all the content in the case of a text file. Likewise, the order is important when you create new ranks and add them to the list in the Ranks tab dialog. See "Creating a New Rank".
To review the way Dynamic Converter has assigned the Title and Heading 1 ranks to a specific source document, pass your cursor slowly over the Preview window. A screentip will display the element for each portion of content.
Strictly speaking, Dynamic Converter identifies only a single instance of the highest level content. Even if manual line breaks have been used to spread the title of a source document over two or more lines, Dynamic Converter will treat this "block" of text as a single instance and successfully assign the Title rank to it.
Rank rules dictate how content in your source documents is treated when the Template Editor assigns ranks to identify hierarchy. They consist of "effects," which represent all possible characteristics of text.
You may want to change the rank rules, depending on the nature of the content of your source documents. If, say, you use specific alignments in your source documents to differentiate content and define hierarchy, you may want to change the default settings for the Alignment effect.
To change the properties of the Alignment effect:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-16), then click Ranks to open that tab.
Click Advanced to open the Rank Rules dialog box.
Select the Alignment effect and click Properties.
Under Significance, be sure that Has Positive Effect is selected.
The Alignments box contains three possible alignments: Right, Center, and Left. To delete any alignment, select the alignment and click Delete. To change the order of the alignments, select any alignment and click Move Up or Move Down.
To add Justify to the selection of alignments, click Add to open the Add Alignment dialog box. Select Justify and click OK.
Click OK again, to return to the Ranks tab dialog.
If alignment is used consistently in your source documents and can be helpful in creating ranks for special content, you may also want to change the order of the Alignment effect in the Ranks Rules dialog box.
You can change the association between a rank and its element. You may want to do this if you have created ranks for two distinct types of content that you now want to format the same way in a body page.
To change the association between a rank and an element:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-17), then click Ranks to open that tab.
From the Ranks list, select the rank you want to associate with a different element, and click Association.
In the Change Associations dialog box, select the new element from the elements list.
Click OK.
The new element associated with the rank can be seen in the element column opposite the rank name.
Rank rules dictate how content in your source documents is treated when Classic HTML Conversion Editor assigns ranks to identify hierarchy. They consist of "effects," which represent all possible characteristics of text.
You may want to change the rank rules, depending on the nature of the content of your source documents. If, say, you use specific fonts in your source documents to differentiate content and define hierarchy, you may want to change the default settings of the Font effect.
To change the properties of the Font effect:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-18), then click Ranks to open that tab.
Click Advanced to open the Rank Rules dialog box.
Select the Font effect and click Properties.
Under Significance, be sure that Has Positive Effect is selected.
Click the Add button to open the Add Font dialog box. From the list, select the font that you want to become a property of the Font effect, and then click OK. The font name displays in the Font box. If the name of the font used in your source documents is not on the list, type it into the text box.
Click Add again if you want to add a second font property to the Font effect.
If you add two or more fonts to the Font effect, you can arrange the order of the fonts by selecting any font and clicking Move Up or Move Down.
Click OK to return to the Ranks Rules dialog box.
If fonts are used consistently in your source documents and can be helpful in creating ranks for special content, you may also want to change the order of the Font effect in the Ranks Rules dialog box.
Rank rules dictate how content in your source documents will be treated when Classic HTML Conversion Editor assigns ranks to identify hierarchy. They consist of "effects," which represent all possible characteristics of text.
You may want to change the rank rules, depending on the nature of the content of your source documents. If, say, you use color in your source documents to differentiate content and define hierarchy, you may want to change the default settings of the Color effect.
To change the properties of the Color effect:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-19), then click Ranks to open that tab.
Click Advanced to open the Rank Rules dialog box.
Select the Color effect and click Properties.
Under Significance, be sure that Has Positive Effect is selected.
Click the Add button to open the Color dialog box. Select the color you want to become a property of the Color effect, and then click OK. A color bar representing that color appears in the Color box. Click Add again if you want to add a second color property.
If you add two or more colors to the Color effect, you can arrange the order of the colors by selecting any color and clicking Move Up or Move Down.
Click OK to return to the Ranks Rules dialog box.
If color is used consistently in your source documents and can be helpful in creating ranks for special content, you may also want to change the order of the Color effect in the Ranks Rules dialog box.
The properties of a rank consist of its name, the element it is associated with, and its hierarchical level and frequency.
When you create ranks to help identify unique content in source documents, hierarchical level and frequency are important properties. Typically, with the Title and Heading 1 ranks successfully assigned, you will want to create additional ranks for additional headings levels and special content.
To change the properties of a rank:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-19), then click Ranks to open that tab.
From the Ranks list, right-click the rank whose properties you want to change and choose Properties from the popup menu (or select the rank and click the Properties button).
If you want to change the rank name, type a new name in the Name text box.
If you want to change the element associated with the rank, choose another element from the Elements list.
Under Hierarchy, select the appropriate radio button. Under Frequency, select the appropriate choice from the list and enter a value in the text box. See "Hierarchy and Frequency of Ranks" for more information.
Click OK.
Rank rules dictate how content in your source documents will be treated when Classic HTML Conversion Editor assigns ranks to identify hierarchy. Rank rules consist of "effects," which represent all possible characteristics of text. For ranking purposes, each effect has the properties "significance" and "order." By changing these, you change the rank rules that govern how Dynamic Converter assigns ranks.
If you use ranks a great deal you may want to change the rank rules, depending on the nature of the content of your source documents. You can change the rules by changing the significance and/or order of each effect.
To change an effect:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-21), then click Ranks to open that tab.
Click Advanced to open the Rank Rules dialog box.
xTo change the significance of an effect, select the effect and click Properties.
In the Rank Properties dialog box, change the significance by selecting the appropriate radio button.
Has negative effect means that Dynamic Converter will place ranks with this effect at the bottom of its list when it is determining content hierarchy.
Has no effect means that the effect is not taken into account by Dynamic Converter when Classic HTML Conversion Editor determines content hierarchy.
Has positive effect means that Dynamic Converter will use this effect to ascertain the ranks for top-level content in source documents.
Click OK to return to the Rank Rules dialog box.
To change the order of the effect, select the effect and click Move Up or Move Down, as necessary, to position the effect in the desired order in the list of effects.
Click OK to return to the Ranks tab dialog.
The effects Color, Font, and Alignment have additional properties that may be useful in ranking content if your source documents consistently use color, font, or alignment in special ways to define hierarchy. See "Changing the Color Property of a Rank", "Changing the Font Property of a Rank", and "Changing the Alignment Property of a Rank".
When you check a document into Content Server, Dynamic Converter applies a default set of ranks in the template to content: Lowest 1, Title, Lowest 2, Heading 1. These ranks are designed to identify content hierarchy in source documents so that top-level content, in particular, can be handled consistently. At the same time, it generates an element for each rank. The elements are saved in the template.
You should:
Check that Dynamic Converter has successfully assigned the Title and Heading 1 ranks to the content. The best way is to and pass your cursor over the Preview window. A screen tip displays the element associated with each portion of content.
Review content associated with Default Paragraph and decide how many new ranks you should create in order to identify the different kinds of content in your source documents and maximize your formatting options.
To create a new rank:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-22), then click Ranks to open that tab.
Click the New button to open the New Rank dialog box.
In the Name text box, type the name you want to use for the new rank. You may care to use a descriptive name such as Intro (if your source document contained, say, introductory text in a specific style).
Under Associated Element, select an element from the list or click the New button to open the New Element dialog box.
In the text box, enter the name you want to use for the new element. Typically, you will want to create a new element for each new rank, and to use the same name for the elements as the rank.
Click OK to return to the New Rank dialog box, and OK again to return to the Ranks tab dialog.
Select the new rank from the Ranks list and click Properties to open that dialog box. Having given the new rank a name and associated it with a new element, you must now specify its properties.
Under Hierarchy, select one of the options. Highest Available means Dynamic Converter will create the new rank by identifying content, based on the current rank rules, immediately below the Title and Heading 1 ranks.
Under Frequency, select the appropriate option from the list, and in the second text box enter a value. For example, if you were seeking to create a rank for a second-level heading, you would probably select the frequency Number of occurrences if greater than and enter the value 0.
Click OK to return to the Ranks tab dialog.
You can see how new ranks take effect in the preview window.
If you already know how many elements you will need, you can always create these first. If you do so, they will be available from the Associated Element list in the New Rank dialog. But they will be "below the line," grayed out, until you select each one and formally associate it with a rank.
Once you create a new rank and associate it with a new element, your next step is to review the rank's properties. (Select the rank in the Ranks tab dialog and click Properties.) Your choice of Hierarchy and Frequency options (see "Hierarchy and Frequency of Ranks"), along with Rank rules (see "Rank Rules"), will determine what content the new rank is associated with.
Hierarchy and frequency are two important properties of a rank. When Dynamic Converter creates ranks, it uses these properties, in conjunction with rank rules, to identify unique content in source documents.
Once you create a new rank and associate it with a new element, your next step is to review the rank's properties. (Select the rank in the Ranks tab dialog and click Properties.) Your choice of Hierarchy and Frequency options, along with Rank Rules, will determine what content the new rank is associated with.
In the Rank Properties dialog box, you have three hierarchy options,
Number of occurrences equals: Use when you know the exact number of occurrences of the content you're trying to associate the rank with, and enter that number in the companion text box. This option, with the value 1, is used by Dynamic Converter to create the Title rank when you first add source documents to the content server.
Number of occurrences is fewer than: Use when you want to limit the instances of specific content to the value entered in the companion text box.
Number of occurrences is greater than: Typically used with a value of 0 in the text box. Three of the four default ranks created by Dynamic Converter have this property.
Remember: these options work in conjunction with the ranks rules.
The value for Number of occurrences equals should always be set to 1 in order to identify the title. Even if manual line breaks have been used to spread the title of a source document over two or more lines, Dynamic Converter will treat this "block" of text as a single instance and successfully assign the Title rank to it. (This value can be set to 1 for other ranks, too.)
The following topics are covered in this section:
"Styles" in Dynamic Converter refers to named styles typically found in word processing documents. A named style is a set of formatting characteristics that are saved and given a name so that they can be applied to any paragraph in a document.
When you check a document into Content Server, Dynamic Converter applies a default set of ranks in the template to content: Lowest 1, Title, Lowest 2, Heading 1. Ranks are designed to identify content hierarchy in source documents so that top-level content, in particular, can be handled consistently. At the same time, Dynamic Converter generates an element for each rank, which are saved in the template.
You can achieve greater control over your HTML output if you're source documents contain styles. You can create a style in Element Setup and a complementary element for each style in your source document. Classic HTML Conversion Editor will recognize these styles, and you will be able to format the elements associated with them and thus gain greater control, over the content associated with the styles.
In addition to ranks, which Dynamic Converter creates and applies to content when you check a document into Content Server, you can create styles for any styles that are in your source document. You can then create elements to associate with those styles, which will be placed in the template you associate with the document.
Element Setup contains tab dialogs that let you view styles along with the elements assigned to them. In the Styles tab dialog, you can
Control the relationship between styles and the elements assigned to them
Add new styles
Delete unwanted styles
Change the properties of styles
Styles contain properties that can be changed in Styles Properties in Element Setup. On the General tab dialog, you can change the name of a style and also the element assigned to it. See "Changing the Properties of a Style" and "Styles".
When you check a document into Content Server, Dynamic Converter applies a default set of ranks in the template to content: Lowest 1, Title, Lowest 2, Heading 1.
Ranks are designed to identify content hierarchy in source documents so that top-level content, in particular, can be handled consistently. At the same time, Dynamic Converter generates an element for each rank; the elements are saved in the template. You can create additional patterns (and ranks and styles), if you want. For example, you may create a style that you know exists in a source document.
You can easily remove a style from a template at any time.
To remove a style from a template:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-23), then click Styles to open that tab.
Under Input Style, select the style you want to delete, and click Delete.
Click OK.
The content associated with that style is now associated with the Default Paragraph element.
Dynamic Converter applies a default set of ranks in the template to your source documents: Lowest 1, Title, Lowest 2, Heading 1. These ranks are designed to identify a content hierarchy in source documents so that top-level content, in particular, can be handled consistently. At the same time, it generates an element for each rank. The elements are saved in the template.
You should:
Check that Dynamic Converter has successfully assigned the Title and Heading 1 ranks to the content. The best way is to open pass your cursor over the Preview window. A screen tip displays the element associated with each portion of content.
Review content associated with Default Paragraph and decide how many new ranks you should create in order to identify the different kinds of content in your source documents and maximize your formatting options.
One option is to create a new style, if you know that a particular style exists in your source document. You can create a new style with the same name as the one in the source document, and then a new element for the style at the same time. Just be sure to accurately name the new style you create.
To create a new style:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-24), then click Styles to open that tab.
Click New.
In the New Style dialog box, type the name of the new style in the text box.
From the Associated Element list, select the element to you want to associate with the new style. If necessary, click New to create a new element.
Under Style Type, select Paragraph for a paragraph style or Character for a character style.
Click OK.
Typically, you will want to create a paragraph style, since character styles are used for the specialized treatment of text or data within a paragraph.
You can change the association between a style and its element. You may want to do this if, say, you import two similar styles that you want to format the same way in a body page.
To change the association between a style and an element:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-25), then click Styles to open the appropriate tab.
Depending on which tab dialog you are in, select the style you want to associate with a different element, and click Association.
In the Change Style Associations dialog box, select the new element from the elements list.
Click OK.
The new element associated with the style can be seen in the element column opposite the style name.
The properties of a style consist of its name and the element it is associated with. You can change them in Style Properties in Element Setup.
To change the properties of a style:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-26), then click Styles to open that tab.
From the Input Style list, right-click the style whose name you want to change and choose Properties from the popup menu (or select the style and click the Properties button).
In the Name text box, type the name for the new style.
If you want to change the element associated with the style, choose another element from the Elements list.
Click OK.
The following topics are covered in this section:
When you check a document into Content Server, Dynamic Converter applies a default set of ranks in the template to content: Lowest 1, Title, Lowest 2, Heading 1. These ranks are designed to identify content hierarchy in source documents so that top-level content, in particular, can be handled consistently. At the same time, Dynamic Converter generates an element for each rank. The elements are saved in the template.
With the Classic HTML Conversion Editor you have the option of creating additional ranks, styles, and/or patterns to increase your formatting options. By identifying such characteristics as typeface, font size, font effects (bold, italic, etc.), and color, the Classic HTML Conversion Editor can separate content in the document into similarly formatted groups, known as patterns.
Patterns contain a number of properties that can be changed in Pattern Properties in Element Setup.
To change a property of a pattern:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-27), then click Patterns to open that tab.
From the Pattern list, right-click the name of the pattern you want to change and choose Properties from the popup menu (or select the pattern and click the Properties button).
In the Pattern Properties property sheet, click the appropriate tab to open and make the changes you want.
Click OK.
Options in the Font, Paragraph, and Text Expression tab dialogs are used for pattern matching when you create new patterns. Should the nature of content in the source document change after you've created a pattern, you can use these options to update the pattern.
You can change the association between a pattern and its element easily. You may want to do this if you import two similar patterns that you want to format the same way.
To change the association:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-28), then click Patterns to open that tab.
Select the pattern you want to associate with a different element, and click Association.
In the Change Pattern Associations dialog box, select the element you now want to associate with the pattern from the list.
Click OK.
Patterns contain a number of properties that can be changed in Pattern Properties in Element Setup.
If you have created patterns to supplement the ranks that Dynamic Converter creates automatically, you may find the need to change the names of the patterns later, as well as the elements assigned to them, to make it easier to edit the template.
To change the name of a pattern:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-29), then click Patterns to open that tab.
Right-click the pattern you want to change, and choose Properties from the popup menu.
Click General to open that tab dialog.
In the Name text box, type in the new name for the pattern.
To change the element associated with the pattern, select a new element from the Elements list.
Click OK.
The General tab dialog also tells you the type of pattern selected (paragraph or character) and the template that contains the pattern. The Description window summarizes the characteristics associated with the pattern, which can be changed in the Font, Paragraph, and Text Expression tab dialogs and viewed in the Preview tab dialog.
Character patterns can be used to identify specific characters within a paragraph. This allows you to recognize a word, phrase, or any data within a paragraph, and to control the formatting of just the matched data.
To create a character pattern:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-30), then click Elements to open that tab.
Click New to open the New Element dialog box.
In the Name text box, type in the new name, and under Element Type, select Character. Then click OK.
Click Patterns to open , and then New to open the New Pattern dialog box.
In the Name text box, type in a name for your character pattern, and select the element you created in step 3. Then click OK.
Select the Pattern you have created, and then click Properties.
In Pattern Properties, set up the properties you would like to use to find content to associate with this pattern.
In matching character patterns, some selections such as Paragraph Alignment and Paragraph Contains a Table (in the Paragraph tab dialog) are not relevant and therefore aren't available. Also, Character Patterns can use only sub expressions, so a Character Pattern such as "FISHING AND BOATING" would not be valid.
When you check a document into Content Server, Dynamic Converter applies a default set of ranks in the template to content: Lowest 1, Title, Lowest 2, Heading 1. These ranks are designed to identify content hierarchy in source documents so that top-level content, in particular, can be handled consistently. At the same time, Dynamic Converter generates an element for each rank. The elements are saved in the template.
You should:
Check that Dynamic Converter has successfully assigned the Title and Heading 1 ranks to the content. The best way is to open pass your cursor over the Preview window. A screen tip displays the element associated with each portion of content.
Review content associated with Default Paragraph and decide how many new ranks you should create in order to identify the different kinds of content in your source documents and maximize your formatting options.
You might want to use pattern matching to identify specialized content and assign a new pattern name to that content, and then create an element for the pattern. This will give you greater control over the formatting of content.
To create a new pattern in a template:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-31), then click Patterns to open that tab.
Click New to open the New Pattern dialog box.
In the New Pattern dialog box, type the new pattern name in the text box.
From the Associated Element list, select the element you want to associate with the new pattern.
Under Pattern Type, select Paragraph.
Click OK.
You will probably want to create a new element each time you create a new pattern. And you will probably find it best to use the same name for both the pattern and the element.
Typically, you will want to create a paragraph pattern, since character patterns are used for the specialized treatment of text or data within a paragraph.
When you check a document into Content Server, Dynamic Converter applies a default set of ranks in the template to content: Lowest 1, Title, Lowest 2, Heading 1. These ranks are designed to identify content hierarchy in source documents so that top-level content, in particular, can be handled consistently. At the same time, Dynamic Converter generates an element for each rank. The elements are saved in the template.
You can create additional patterns (and ranks and styles), if you want. For example, you can use pattern matching to identify and format specific content.
Let's say you have a series of figures in your source document and these are numbered Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.
To create a paragraph pattern for a figure number:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-32), then click Patterns to open that tab.
Click New to open the New Pattern dialog box.
Type Figure in the Name text box (or whatever name you want to use), and click the New button to open the New Element dialog box.
Type Figure in the Name text box, and click OK to return to the New Pattern dialog box.
Click OK to return to the Patterns tab dialog.
With the new pattern Figure selected, click Properties to open Pattern Properties, and then click Text Expression to open that tab dialog.
Under Text Paragraph Position, click Beginning.
In the Text Expression text box, type the following string between the quotation marks:
Figure \d+
Click OK to return to the Patterns tab dialog. The Pattern Details box now lists the characteristic you have used to define the figures in your source document. You can now use this element to format this text in Formatting. Moreover, you could use this new element to create a List of Figures.
The pattern created in step 7 will also match successfully if the figures in the source document are numbered Figure 1-1, Figure 1-2, etc.
When you check a document into Content Server, Dynamic Converter applies a default set of ranks in the template to content: Lowest 1, Title, Lowest 2, Heading 1.
Ranks are designed to identify content hierarchy in source documents so that top-level content, in particular, can be handled consistently. At the same time, Dynamic Converter generates an element for each rank, which are saved in the template. You can create additional patterns (and ranks and styles), if you want.
You can use pattern matching to identify and format specific content currently associated with the Default element. Let's say you want to create a pattern specifically for those paragraphs in the source document that contain graphics. You could then format the new element for this pattern to format the graphics (in the Graphics tab dialog in Formatting).
To create a paragraph pattern for graphics in a source document:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-33), then click Patterns to open that tab.
Click New to open the New Pattern dialog box.
Type Graphic in the Name text box (or whatever name you want to use), and click the New button to open the New Element dialog box.
Type Graphic in the Name text box, and click OK to return to the New Pattern dialog box.
Click OK to return to the Patterns tab dialog.
With the new pattern Graphic selected, click Properties to open Pattern Properties, and then click Paragraph to open that tab dialog.
From the Paragraph Contains a Graphic box, select Yes.
Click OK to return to the Patterns tab dialog. The Pattern Details box now lists the paragraph characteristic you have used to define the new pattern.
If the graphics are associated with the Default Paragraph element, Dynamic Converter will still convert them. If the graphics are not GIFs, they will be converted to GIFs by default. By assigning a special element to the graphics, however, you increase your formatting options.
When you check a document into Content Server, Dynamic Converter applies a default set of ranks in the template to content: Lowest 1, Title, Lowest 2, Heading 1.
You can use pattern matching to identify and format special content currently associated with the Default element. Let's say you have a numbered list in the source document and have used the same font and font size for the list as for the rest of the source document.
To create a paragraph pattern for a numbered list:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-34), then click Patterns to open that tab.
Click New to open the New Pattern dialog box.
Type ListNumber in the Name text box (or whatever name you want to use), and click the New button to open the New Element dialog box.
Type ListNumber in the Name text box, and click OK to return to the New Pattern dialog box.
Click OK to return to the Patterns tab dialog.
With the new pattern ListNumber selected, click Properties to open Pattern Properties, and then click Text Expression to open that tab dialog.
In the Text Expression text box, type the following string:
"\d+\.[\t| ]"
What you have instructed Dynamic Converter to do in its pattern search is look for one or more of any digit (\d+), followed by a period (\.), followed by a tab or a space (\t| ). The last instruction would cover situations in which some lists have tabs after the numbers while others do not.
Click OK to return to the Patterns tab dialog. The Pattern Details box now lists the characteristic you have used to define the numbered list in your source document. You can now format the numbered list in the Lists tab dialog in Formatting.
When you check a document into Content Server, Dynamic Converter applies a default set of ranks in the template to content: Lowest 1, Title, Lowest 2, Heading 1.
Ranks are designed to identify content hierarchy in source documents so that top-level content, in particular, can be handled consistently. At the same time, Dynamic Converter generates an element for each rank, which are saved in the template. You can create additional patterns (and ranks and styles), if you want. For example, you can use pattern matching to identify and format specific content.
Let's say you have a bulleted list in the source document and have used the same font and font size for the list as the rest of the source document.
To create a paragraph pattern for a bulleted list:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-35), then click Patterns to open that tab.
Click New to open the New Pattern dialog box.
Type ListBullet in the Name text box (or whatever name you want to use), and click the New button to open the New Element dialog box.
Type ListBullet in the Name text box, and click OK to return to the New Pattern dialog box.
Click OK to return to the Patterns tab dialog.
With the new pattern ListBullet selected, click Properties to open Pattern Properties, and then click Text Expression to open that tab dialog.
Under Text Paragraph Position, make sure that Beginning is selected.
Place your cursor between the quotation marks in the Text Expression text box, click the Bullet button, and type [\t| ].
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Note: You could, in fact, just click the Bullet button if in pattern matching it didn't matter what followed the bullet. |
Click OK to return to the Patterns tab dialog. The Pattern Details box now lists the characteristic you have used to define the bulleted list in your source document. You can now format the bulleted list in the Lists tab dialog in Formatting.
When you check a document into Content Server, Dynamic Converter applies a default set of ranks in the template to content: Lowest 1, Title, Lowest 2, Heading 1. It places those elements in the template you associate with the document.
You can use pattern matching to identify and format special content currently associated with the Default element. Let's say you have a numbered list in the source document and have used the same font and font size for the list as for the rest of the source document.
To create a paragraph pattern for a table in a source document:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-36), then click Patterns to open that tab.
Click New to open the New Pattern dialog box.
Type Table in the Name text box (or whatever name you want to use), and click the New button to open the New Element dialog box.
Type Table in the Name text box, and click OK to return to the New Pattern dialog box.
Click OK to return to the Patterns tab dialog.
With the new pattern Table selected, click Properties to open Pattern Properties, and then click Paragraph to open that tab dialog.
From the Paragraph Contains a Table box, select Yes.
Click OK to return to the Patterns tab dialog. The Pattern Details box now lists the paragraph characteristic you have used to define the new pattern.
What you have done, in fact, is selected the paragraph immediately preceding the table. This is important because, in order to format the appearance of a table (in the Tables tab dialog in Formatting), you must select the element that immediately precedes the table.
When you check a document into Content Server, Dynamic Converter applies a default set of ranks in the template to content: Lowest 1, Title, Lowest 2, Heading 1. It places those elements in the template you associate with the document.
You may want to create new elements for the content not specifically identified in the source document. That way, you will have more formatting options when you edit the template. You do this by using pattern matching to identify the content. The patterns you create can be paragraph or character.
You may also need to create new elements for the other content not specifically identified in the source document. That way, you will have more formatting options when you edit the template. You do this by using pattern matching to identify the content. The patterns you create can be paragraph or character.
Following are some examples of pattern matching.
Several of the templates that ship with Dynamic Converter contain three default character patterns: HTTP, WWW, and Email (the element names are HTTP, Weblink, and Email, respectively). Each contains HTML code to ensure that any character strings in the source documents that begin with the protocol http, the www designation that signifies a link to the Web, or the Mailto: link for electronic mail, will be automatically activated in the output pages that Dynamic Converter creates.
Patterns contain a number of properties that can be changed in the series of tab dialogs in Pattern Properties in Element Setup. In the Patterns tab dialog you select the pattern you want to change or define, and click Properties to open Pattern Properties.
The Font tab dialog lets you use characteristics of the text in the source document to match patterns.
The boxes for Bold, Italic, etc., have three settings. Yes means a pattern match will occur only if content contains this characteristic. No means it will occur only if content does not contain this characteristic. And N/A means that matching will be successful whether or not this characteristic is present.
You can also choose a type face, font size, and font color for matching purposes. Clearing any of these boxes means that pattern matching will be successful regardless of the value for that characteristic.
If you choose any of these font characteristics in matching a paragraph pattern, it must apply to the entire paragraph. If you choose any in matching a character pattern, the entire character string must contain the characteristic.
Patterns contain a number of properties that can be changed in the series of tab dialogs in Pattern Properties in Element Setup. In the Patterns tab dialog you select the pattern you want to change or define, and click Properties to open Pattern Properties.
The Paragraph tab dialog lets you identify paragraphs that contain graphics or tables, and also by their alignment. Each paragraph contains boxes (for a graphic, a table, and alignment), which have three settings.
Graphic: Yes means that pattern matching will be successful only if a paragraph in the source document contains a graphic. No means that pattern matching will be successful only if the content does not contain a graphic. N/A means that pattern matching will be successful whether or not this characteristic is present. This option is useful when you want to create a new pattern for all paragraphs containing graphics so you can format the graphics consistently (in the Graphics tab dialog in Formatting).
Tables: Yes means that pattern matching will be successful only if a paragraph in the source document contains a table. No means that pattern matching will be successful only if the content does not contain a table. N/A means that pattern matching will be successful whether or not this characteristic is present. Here, you are actually identifying the paragraph that precedes the table, because it is the element associated with that style that must be selected in the Tables tab dialog in Formatting if you want to format the appearance of a table.
Alignment: Here, pattern matching will be successful only if the paragraph has the alignment selected: Left, Center, or Right. N/A means that pattern matching will be successful whether or not this characteristic is present. This option might be useful, for example, if you want to create a pattern for a particular heading that is centered on the page. You would combine the Center option with specific font settings in the Font tab dialog.
Patterns contain a number of properties that can be changed in Pattern Properties in Element Setup. See "Changing Pattern Properties".
In the General tab dialog you can change the name of a pattern and also the element assigned to the pattern.
The Font tab dialog is used in pattern matching to help identify portions of text by the font used, the font size and color, and character attributes such as bold and italic.
The Paragraph tab dialog is used in pattern matching to identify paragraphs containing graphics or tables, as well as by their alignment.
In the Text Expression tab dialog you can modify the text expression property settings for the current pattern and check syntax for pattern matching.
The Preview tab dialog allows you to preview the content of your source document that matches the pattern, as you change properties and test patterns.
Source documents contain patterns of text that you can specify and name in Classic HTML Conversion Editor, and thus assign elements to in order to expand your ability to format content.
Element Setup contains tab dialogs that let you view the patterns you create along with the elements assigned to them. In the Patterns tab dialog, you can:
Control the relationship between patterns and the elements assigned to them
Add new patterns
Delete unwanted patterns
Change the properties of patterns
Patterns contain a number of properties that can be changed in Pattern Properties in Element Setup.
In the Preview tab dialog you can see which paragraphs the selected pattern matches to.
To preview patterns:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-37), then click Patterns to open that tab.
Right-click the pattern you want to preview and choose Properties from the popup menu.
Click Preview to open that tab dialog.
Click Change Preview to open that dialog box.
Choose one of the documents associated with the current template, and click OK.
When you return to the Preview tab dialog, the first instance of the pattern in the selected document will appear in the Preview window. You can use the Previous and Next buttons to scroll back and forth to preview every instance of the pattern in the document. A tally of the number of "hits" is displayed in the upper right of the dialog box.
If nothing is displayed in the Preview window, that's because the document currently being previewed contains no examples of the pattern being matched.
When you check a document into Content Server, Dynamic Converter applies a default set of ranks in the template to content: Lowest 1, Title, Lowest 2, Heading 1.
Ranks are designed to identify content hierarchy in source documents so that top-level content, in particular, can be handled consistently. At the same time, Dynamic Converter generates an element for each rank; the elements are saved in the template. You can create additional patterns (and ranks and styles), if you want. For example, you can use pattern matching to identify and format specific content.
You may decide to remove a pattern, either during project setup (if you decide to format two or more patterns the same way) or later (if a revised source document no longer contains paragraph or text formatting of a particular nature).
To remove a pattern from a template:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-38), then click Patterns to open that tab.
From the Pattern column, select the pattern you want to delete and click Delete.
The selected pattern is removed from the template.
Click OK.
When you remove a pattern, Dynamic Converter automatically re-associates the content with another element. In most cases, this will be Default Paragraph. But the content may be associated with the next pattern lower on the pattern list, instead. For example, if you delete an element associated with Pattern4, 11 pt Arial Bold Italic, and the template also contains Pattern5, 11 pt Arial Bold, the content associated with Pattern4 would then be associated with Pattern5.
Patterns contain a number of properties that can be changed in the series of tab dialogs in Pattern Properties in Element Setup. In the Patterns tab dialog you select the pattern you want to change or define, and click Properties to open Pattern Properties.
In the Text Expression tab dialog you can modify text expression settings, which allow you to match paragraphs (or text strings for character elements) based on their content instead of their formatting. You can match content at the beginning or end of a paragraph, or anywhere in a paragraph, by using the appropriate radio button under Text Paragraph Position.
The Text Expression edit box allows you to edit the string you want to match. You can use the Check button to parse and validate the string to ensure that it has proper syntax for pattern matching.
Expression Operators
| " " | Quotation marks. Every expression must be surrounded by quotation marks to denote the start and end of an expression |
| < > | Can be used to nest expressions |
| AND | Used to command that both sub expressions be found |
| OR | Used to command that either sub expression be found |
| NOT | Used to command that a sub expression not be found |
Sub-Expression Operators
| [ ] | Allows you to express a character range; for example, from the digits zero to nine, use [0-9] |
| ( ) | Allows you to nest sub expressions |
| | |
Used to set an OR expression within a sub expression |
| ? | Look for zero or one of the previous.Used to express when only one more of the previous expression may exist |
| + |
Look for one or more of the previous. Used to express when more than one of the previous expression definitely exists |
| * |
Look for zero or more of the previous.Used to express when more of the previous expression may exist |
Common Character Definitions
Use these to match certain characters:
| . | Use to find any character |
| [0-9] | Use to find any digit |
| [A-Z] | Use to find any uppercase character in the English alphabet. |
| [a-z] | Use to find any lowercase character in the English alphabet |
| [A-Za-z] | Use to find any uppercase or lowercase character in the English alphabet |
| Bullet | Use to find any bullet character. Bullets are frequently ANSI characters 0149 or 0183. The characters inserted represent these ANSI values. |
| Tab | Use to find any tab character. The representation of a tab character is the result of an ANSI value insertion. |
The following four text combinations can also be used:
| \d | Use to find any digit |
| \u | Use to find any uppercase character |
| \l | Use to find any lowercase character |
| \t | Use to find a tab |
Another character that can be used is the caret, which represents any character but the one that follows it. For example [^ ] would represent any character except a space.
The backslash is used as an escape character. If you need to match characters that are used in the search syntax, such as the quotation marks or parentheses, place a backslash before each.
The following topics are covered in this section:
Metadata is simply "data about data." In addition to content, the typical source document has a title, author, and other information that is associated with the document and can be used in different ways.
Classic HTML Conversion Editor recognizes:
Standard metadata: Properties automatically generated by the application that was used to create the source document.
Custom metadata: Special properties you create in the application for the source document.
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Note: Not every source document has standard or custom metadata. (See "Standard and Custom Metadata" for more information.) |
Metadata can be used to improve the usability of your Web site by being placed in Web pages and also the Meta tags of those Web pages, to facilitate information searches on your site.
You must make metadata element-based (see "Making a Metadata Element-Based") in order to place the metadata in your Web pages and in Meta tags. Once element-based, standard and custom metadata can be published to a content server.
Whatever metadata you plan to use must exist in, or be associated with, the source documents if Dynamic Converter is to successfully place that metadata in your Web output.
The properties (standard metadata) of a source document may not accurately describe the document. For example, if you create a new document by making a copy of an existing one, the new document may inherit the properties of the existing one.
When you check a document into Content Server, Dynamic Converter applies a default set of ranks to the content, but it does not import metadata.
To include metadata from source documents in your Web pages, you must first "create" the metadata you want to use and associate it with an element. You must then decide how you want to use the metadata. (See "Placing an Element in your Web Pages".)
To create new metadata:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-39), then click Metadata to open that tab.
Click New to open the New Metadata dialog box.
Select Standard or Custom:
If you select Standard, choose from the list the specific type of metadata you want to create for your page. See "Metadata Options".
If you select Custom, enter the name of the custom metadata you created for your source document.
Click the New button to open the New Element dialog box. It is always best to create a new element for each metadata you create.
In the Name text box, type the name you want to use for the metadata. Typically, using the name of the metadata itself will simplify identification of the metadata.
Click OK to return to the New Metadata dialog box, and OK again. The new metadata is now listed in the Metadata tab dialog.
Click Elements to switch to . The new element for the metadata has been added to the list of elements.
What metadata is actually included will depend on what is available from your source documents. See "Metadata Options".
By default, the metadata you have created will be included in the Meta tag in the <HEAD> of the output HTML for your page. You can also include metadata in the body pages to display with content.
It is usually best to create a new element for each metadata you create. Be careful if you use Title from the standard list. Your document may already have a Title element (based on a style). In that case, you may want to name the new element for that metadata Title (Meta).
The following list summarizes all standard metadata recognized by Dynamic Converter. Not all metadata are available for every source document. Some of the following will appear only in Word files, others in PowerPoint files, and so on. Some source documents contain no standard metadata at all.
See "Standard and Custom Metadata" for a list of applications that can create standard and custom metadata.
These metadata can be selected from the Standard list when you make a metadata element-based (see "Making a Metadata Element-Based").
Standard Metadata
| Title | Number of characters | From |
| Author | Number of words | Reply to |
| Subject | Edit time | Number of revisions |
| Keywords | Number of bytes | Version |
| Creation date | Number of lines | Last author |
| Modification date | Number of paragraphs | Account |
| Description | Number of slides | Category |
| Comments | Number of notes | Presentation target |
| Time | Number of hidden slides | Scale or crop |
| Manager | Number of sounds or video clips | Links up to date |
| Company name | To | Characters (with spaces) |
| Number of pages | CC |
When you make a standard metadata element-based, the metadata isn't necessarily available from your source documents. You should experiment to see what is possible, especially if you have source documents of different types associated with the same template.
Dynamic Converter lets you include metadata from source documents in your Web pages. In the New Metadata dialog box you can select the specific form of metadata you want to use from the Standard list or specify custom metadata.
When you are including metadata from source documents using the standard or custom option, keep in mind the new metadata you create isn't necessarily available from your source documents. See the notes below for an explanation.
Please note the following:
The standard and custom metadata available will vary with different types of source documents and, in some instances, with the version of the application used to create the source documents.
Standard metadata may vary. For Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint, information in the Summary and Statistics tab dialogs of the Document Properties dialog box may be available: For the other applications, only metadata from the Summary tab dialog may be available.
Custom metadata is available only from those applications indicated in the table.
| Application | Standard | Custom |
|---|---|---|
| Word 97 and higher |  |
|
| Excel 97 and higher | |
|
| PowerPoint 97 and higher | |
|
| Ami Pro | |
|
| Word Pro | |
|
| Word versions 2 and 6 | |
|
| Excel | |
|
| RTF | |
|
| Corel WordPerfect | |
Metadata in source documents isn't automatically included in your Web pages. (The standard metadata Keywords was created specially for the templates that ship with Dynamic Converter). To place a metadata in your Web pages and in the Meta tags of the HTML files, you must formally associate the metadata with an element.
|
Note: The metadata itself must exist in the source document. The metadata you create will apply to all source documents associated with the template you edit. |
To make a metadata element-based:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-40), then click Metadata to open that tab.
Click New to open the New Metadata dialog box.
Select Standard or Custom:
If you select Standard, select the specific type of metadata from the list as used in the source document. See "Standard and Custom Metadata" and also "List of Standard Metadata".
If you select Custom, enter the name of the custom metadata you created for your source document.
Under Associated element, click the New button to open the New Element dialog box. It is always best to create a new element for each metadata you create.
In the Name text box, type the name you want to use for the metadata. Typically, using the name of the metadata itself will simplify identification of the metadata.
Click OK to return to the New Metadata dialog box, and OK again. The new metadata is now listed in the Metadata tab dialog.
Click Elements to switch to . The new element for the metadata has been added to the list of elements.
Click OK to return to the main window.
By default, any new metadata is placed in the Meta tag (see "Placing an Element in a Meta Tag") of the Head of the output HTML file.
Which metadata are actually included in your Web page will depend on what is available in your source documents. See "Standard and Custom Metadata".
It is usually best to create a new element for each metadata you create. But be careful if you use Title from the Standard list. Your document may already have a Title element (based on a style). In that case, you may want to name the new element for metadata "Title (Meta)".
When you create new metadata to be included in the Head of the HTML output of your publication, by default Dynamic Converter places the metadata in Meta tags. You can use custom tags, instead, if you want.
To use custom tags for new metadata:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-41), then click Metadata to open that tab.
Select the new element that your metadata is associated with, and then click Properties to open the Element Properties dialog box.
Click Meta Tag to open that tab dialog.
Select Use custom tags, and then click Use custom tag before metadata. Enter the opening custom tag you want to use in the text box. For example, you might enter <TITLE> here.
Click Use custom tag after metadata and enter the closing tag. You might enter </TITLE> here.
Click OK, and OK again.
You cannot have two title tags in your HTML output. So if, in the above example, you used the Title tag as your custom tag, you would want to turn off titles in the Titles tab dialog of Globals.
You can change the association between a metadata and its element at any time.
To change the association between a metadata and an element:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-42), then click Metadata to open that tab.
Select the metadata you want to associate with a different element, and click Association.
In the Change Associations dialog box, select the new element from the list.
Click OK. The new element associated with the metadata can be seen in the Elements column, opposite the metadata name.
Click OK to return to the main window.
You can also enter the Metadata Properties dialog box and change the element there. If you want to change just the name of the element, open the Elements tab dialog, select the element, and click Properties. Then change the name in the Element Properties dialog box.
Dynamic Converter recognizes standard and custom metadata, which originate in the source document, with the application used to create it.
Standard and custom metadata can be associated with elements and placed in your Web output, as well as in Meta tags.
See "List of Standard Metadata" for a summary of the standard metadata recognized by Dynamic Converter. You can create element-based standard metadata using the metadata names listed there. The table below shows the type of metadata available from certain applications.
| Application | Standard | Custom |
|---|---|---|
| Word 97 and higher | |
|
| Excel 97 and higher | |
|
| PowerPoint 97 and higher | |
|
| Ami Pro | |
|
| Word Pro | |
|
| Word versions 2 and 6 | |
|
| Excel | |
|
| RTF | |
|
| Corel WordPerfect | |
Please note the following:
The metadata names you use in Dynamic Converter should be the same as those used in your source documents.
The metadata available will vary with different types of source documents and, in some instances, with the version of the application used to create the source documents.
Standard metadata may vary between applications. For Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, information in the Summary and Statistics tab dialogs of the Document Properties dialog box may be available. For the other applications, only metadata from the Summary tab dialog may be available.
Custom metadata is available only from those applications indicated in the table.
The properties of a metadata in Classic HTML Conversion Editor are the name of the metadata and the element associated with the metadata.
Once you create the name of a standard metadata, you cannot change it. But you can change the name of a custom metadata. (Of course, you must be careful how you create a metadata name in the first place. See "Making a Metadata Element-Based".) In all cases, you can always change the element associated with the metadata.
To change the properties of metadata:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-43), then click Metadata to open that tab.
Select the metadata you want to modify and click Properties to open the Metadata Properties dialog box.
Change the name of the metadata, if you want, assuming it is a custom or metadata.
If you want to associate another element with the metadata, select the element from the list.
If you want to create a new element for the metadata, you will have to do so before you enter the Metadata Properties dialog box. In that event, when you select the new element from the Element drop down list in the Metadata Properties dialog box, you will find it grayed out, below the line.
Click OK, and OK again.
The element you associate with metadata has its own properties. To view these, open the Elements tab dialog, select the element, and then click Properties.
The Metadata tab dialog is one of five tab dialogs in the Element Setup property sheet, where you organize your templates initially in terms of ranks, styles, and patterns, and then elements.
With elements for ranks, styles, and patterns, you can format the content of your Web pages, create navigation links, and so forth.
While Dynamic Converter automatically applies ranks to the content of source documents, it doesn't recognize metadata (or styles or patterns) in source documents. That's why (except for the Keywords metadata) the Metadata tab dialog is initially empty.
Once you make a metadata element-based (see "Making a Metadata Element-Based"), it is automatically included in the Meta tag of the head of your output HTML files. It can also be placed in your Web output in the body page (see "Placing an Element in your Web Pages").
The order in which metadata appear in the Metadata tab dialog of Element Setup determines the order in which the metadata appear in your Web pages and in the Meta tags of your HTML files.
You can use drag-and-drop to move any metadata up or down the list.
The Metadata tab dialog shows all the element-based metadata for a given template. If all of the metadata shown have been placed in Meta tags and included in the Web page, the metadata for the source document associated with the template will appear in the corresponding output pages in the order shown.
When you check a source document into Content Server, its metadata isn't automatically associated with elements in the template. You have to make each metadata element-based in order to place the metadata in the Meta tag of your output HTML files and in the Web pages themselves.
Any metadata you create can easily be removed from a template.
To remove a metadata from a template:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-45), then click Metadata to open that tab.
Select the metadata you want to remove and click Delete. You have now removed the metadata from your template. However, the element you created specifically for the metadata is still in your template.
Click Elements to switch to . The element associated with the metadata you deleted is now grayed out, below the line, to denote it is no longer being used in the template. If you no longer want the element as part of the template, select the element and click Delete.
Click OK to return to the main window.
The following topics are covered in this section:
Dynamic Converter automatically assigns HTML tags to elements, which represent the ranks, styles, and patterns in your source documents and are used to define the look of your content in HTML format. You can change the default assignments, if you want. Here are some of the standard HTML tags defined by the industry that Dynamic Converter uses.
| HTML Tag | "Extension" | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| address block | <ADDRESS> | To set off the address of the web site sponsor. |
| block quote | <BLOCKQUOTE> | To set off long quotations or citations. |
| line break | <BR> | Forces a line break in text flow. |
| definition | <DD> | Definition for a term in a glossary list. |
| division | <DIV> | To set off different kinds of containers (say, chapter, section, abstract, or appendix). |
| term | <DT> | Descriptive part of a definition entry. |
| heading 1 through heading 6 | <H1> through <H6> | First-level heading through sixth-level heading. |
| list header | <LH> | Marks a heading of a list. |
| list item | <LI> | Marks a member item within a list of any kind. |
| no tag | Used when content is not assigned to any tag. | |
| note | <NOTE> | For admonishments (say, a Caution or Warning). |
| paragraph | <P> | Breaks up text into spaced regions. |
| preformatted | <PRE> | Renders text using a fixed font and treats white space characters literally. |
Elements contain a number of properties you can change in Element Properties in Element Setup.
One property is the HTML tag assigned to an element. Dynamic Converter assigns heading tags to elements that have heading styles associated with them, and the paragraph tag to all other elements. You can change these assignments, if you want.
To change the HTML tag assigned to an element:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-46), then click Elements to open that tab.
Right-click the element for the assignment you want to change, and choose Properties from the popup menu.
Click HTML Tag to open that tab dialog.
Under Standard Tags, the HTML tag assigned by default to the selected element displays in the Tag text box. Select another tag from the list or type the new tag in the text box.
Click OK.
You can assign custom tags instead of using standard HTML tags. See "Adding Custom Tags Before and After an Element".
Elements contain a number of properties you can change in Element Properties in Element Setup.
One property is the HTML tag assigned to an element. Dynamic Converter assigns heading tags to elements that have heading styles associated with them, and the paragraph tag to all other elements. You can change these assignments, if you want. One option is to use custom tags.
To add custom tags before and after an element:
Click the Element Setup icon (Figure 2-47), then click Elements to open that tab.
Select the element you want to change and click Properties.
Click HTML Tags to open that tab dialog.
Under Use Custom Tags, click Use custom tag before content, and in the text box enter the HTML tag you want to place before the element.
Click Use custom tag after content, and in the text box enter the HTML tag you want to place after the element.
Click OK.
If you want to remove the carriage return before each paragraph for the content associated with a particular element, click the Remove aesthetic formatting before custom tags check box. This option might be especially useful where you are including JavaScript in your code.
