Tom Malaher wrote: > > In using xxe to create large DocBook documents, I'm noticing a pattern: > > To insert a new item into an itemizedlist/orderedlist or a new row > into a table (table->tgroup->tbody) I have to hit Ctrl-Uparrow three > times then hit return (or ctrl-return).
You could have typed Ctrl-Insert too. (Return or Ctrl-Return splits split-able elements. Ctrl-insert just inserts the same element but emptied). If you are a mouse-oriented person, in the selected node path tool at the bottom of the window, simply Ctrl-click on the *name* of the element you want to duplicate (e.g. Ctrl-click on the string "row" or Ctrl-click on the string "listitem"). Try it, you'll like it. -------------------------------------------------------------- What follows deals with XXE V2 not the current M1.x prototype. Note that XXE V2 implements almost all the features requested by the user's of XXE M1.x. The most notable exception is the management of text or external entities. Disclaimer: what I describe really exists and is in use in the alpha of the product but may not be as mature, in term of API and in term of ease of use, as what you can find in other XML editors. > I'm thinking that there might be an opportunity here for some sort > of optimization. > > Questions: > 1) Will the product version of xxe have the ability to record keystroke > macros? No. Not yet, for now, you can repeat last command and there is a command history popup. > ...and bind them to custom key combinations? Not to keystroke macros. But even horrible things like "Esc F5 Ctrl-Alt-P" can bound to any *named* command. > 2) Will it have the ability for users to write "plugins" that will allow > us to extend the functionality of the tool? (See www.xerlin.org > (formerly the merlot xml editor). Yes: * Editing commands. Writing efficient, well-thought, generic editing commands which works for any DTD/XML-Schema is *very difficult* (even for XMLmind developers) but writing XML-application specific commands should be possible for a third-party developer. XML-application specific commands have been written for DocBook and XHTML, for editing tables among other things. Commands can be written in Java or in a scripting language. For now, all commands have been written in Java (for speed reasons). * Custom views, possibly editable. Example: you want a temperature element to be displayed as a thermometer inside the document view and you want that dragging the level of quicksilver in the thermometer changes the value of an attribute of the temperature element. (Not difficult to do.) This has been done for XHTML form elements (e.g. <input> or <textarea>). * Style hooks. Sometimes the CSS stylesheet is not expressive enough to specify the style of certain elements. In such case, the style engine can delegate to a StyleHook which simply knows.(Not difficult to do.) This has been done for DocBook and XHTML tables. * Scripting engine plugins. A wrapper, like BSF but much thinner, around a scripting engine written in pure Java.(Not difficult to do.) This has been done for BeanShell, DynamicJava (much faster than BeanShell) and Rhino. * Non-XML, but structured, format plug-ins. This has been done for APT and Javadoc (Javadoc is in XXE M1.x and has not yet been ported to V2).(Not difficult to do.) * Document repository plugins. Planned before the end of this year. > 3) Will you be including something like BeanShell, that would allow the > quick, iterative development of extended functionality? Yes. See above. But keep in mind than a styled XML editor is a much more complicated beast than a text editor or a word processor. Well, at least XXE, may be other people managed to implement this very simply.
