Syntext Serna Free Basics Tutorial

The PDF version of this tutorial is available at: http://downloads.syntext.com/serna-docs/serna-tutorial.pdf


Table of Contents

1. Getting Started
Introduction
Quick Start
2. Authoring Tips
Getting Familiar with GUI
Navigation and Selection
Navigation
Cursor Positioning
Selection
Working with Elements and Attributes
Working with Elements and Attributes
Working with Elements and Attributes in ContentMap
Custom Content
Inserting Ready-Made "Section" Custom Content
Creating New Custom Content
Reusable Content
Working with Entities
Working with XInclude
Tables
Concept of XML Tables
Creating CALS Table with Table Tools Plugin
Redlining
Redlining Christmas Letter
Revising Redlined Letter
3. PDF and HTML Publishing
HTML Publishing of Docbook Document
PDF Publishing of Docbook Document with XEP
4. XSLT Parameter Sets
Switching XSLT Parameter Sets
Editing XSLT Parameter Set
5. Serna Views
Saving Customized View
Saving "Clean" XSLT Parameter Set for Docbook Documents
Restoring Original View

Chapter 1. Getting Started

Table of Contents

Introduction
Quick Start

Introduction

This tutorial is for anyone who wishes to grasp the main functionality of Syntext Serna to be able to create, edit and maintain XML documents using this WYSIWYG XML content editor. Whether you are a technical writer, a project manager or a developer facing the need of XML authoring, you are welcome to discover what Serna has to offer.

Don't just read the tutorial but actually try the stuff, put the things into practice.

Before going any further, make sure you do understand:

What Serna isA WYSIWYG editor, almost like a conventional word processor. Serna was designed for WYSIWYG document presentation: XML documents can be viewed in print-like appearance without even XML markup tags, if you wish. So when you find yourself desiring to switch to the tag mode or to pure XML code mode, please be aware that there should be an easy way of handling the same use-case in the WYSIWYG mode.

What Serna is notNot an XML development environment. You will not find it convenient for coding, say, XSL stylesheets or XML schemas. The nice appearance of XML documents like DITA, Docbook and TEI is exactly what Serna was written for.

Quick Start

Opening a Document

Let's run Serna and open an XML document in it:

  • Once you install Serna and run it for the first time, you'll see the Examples Dialog.

  • The examples are XML documents. Double click, say, Simple Docbook Example and this Docbook document will be opened in a second.

    Serna has guessed the type of the document and opened it with an appropriate XSL stylesheet, XML schema, and encoding. We have avoided the common tiresome procedure of manual assigning of XML stylesheet and XML schema to apply. This is so helpful, isn't it?

Creating a Simple Document

Let's create our own simple document:

  • Choose Document -> New Document to call the New Document Dialog.

  • Choose one of the offered categories for the new document. Let it be Docbook V4.5 . Click on it and then select a template. Let it be Article . Click OK.

    Here is what you see:

    We've just chosen article as the root element and it has been inserted automatically. Note that root elements can't be renamed, our article will stay the article. Give it some title:

    • Click right after "Title:" to move the cursor there.

    • Type the title, say, " My Article ".

Adding More Elements

Now we can add more and more elements. Before we do this, it should be mentioned that thanks to the on-the-fly XML Schema validation in Serna, you constantly work with valid, consistent documents. This means you are offered and allowed to insert only valid elements at valid positions not to spoil the structure of the document.

  • You must have noticed the green Choose element , don't be shy to click it. These green Choose elements appear whenever the insertion of an element is required.

  • What you see now is the Insert Element Dialog offering you a list of possible elements one of which you must choose. Scroll the list, the elements are in alphabetical order. Select section.

  • Click one more green Choose element that appears. In the Insert Element Dialog, select the title element from the list.

    The cursor is blinking inside the newly inserted title element. Type " My Section " there.

  • Click one more green Choose element that appears. In the Insert Element Dialog, select the para (paragraph) element from the list.

    The cursor is blinking inside the newly inserted para element. Let's type there the lines from a popular British nursery rhyme:

    This is the cow with the crumpled horn
    That tossed the dog that worried the cat
    That killed the rat that ate the malt
    That lay in the house that Jack built.

    Para element allows only one consecutive blank, so we'll have to make a separate para for each line of the rhyme: when you have typed a line and need a new para, simply press the Enter key.

    You can see that no more Choose elements appear. This means you are free to decide whether to insert more elements or not.

  • Let's add an image to our document right after the poem:

    • Look at the ContentMap pane in the left part of Serna window: you can see the current tree structure of the document. The ContentMap shows elements as well as places where you can insert more elements. Click the empty branch right after the last para.

    • This is where we'll insert the image. Let's do it using the Insert Graphic button. Find the button on the toolbar, it looks like this . Actually, many commands can be executed through associated hot keys. So if you like, to insert an image you can just hit Ctrl+Alt+G.

    • Now browse for an image and open it.

    Note

    In this example, we used the ContentMap to indicate the position for the image. Actually, you can position the cursor in the editing window as well.

This is what we've got by now:

Changing Element Attributes

Let's experiment now a little. The elements can have attributes and you can edit them. For example, let's align the image to the left:

  • Right-click on the image and select the Element Attributes item from the context menu.

  • In the Attributes Dialog, find the align attribute, change its value to left and press Enter. The image will be aligned to the left.

To continue our experiment, let's change the language of the article from English to German:

  • Right-click on the article element in the ContentMap and select the Element Attributes item from the context menu.

  • In the Attributes Dialog, click the Add Attribute button and select the lang attribute.

  • Type the de value and press Enter.

Here is what we have as the result of the experiment:

Now let's undo the last two operations: the image alignment and change of the language. Hit Ctrl+Z twice. To save the document, hit Ctrl+S.

So, what have we got now? We have the paras and the graphic inside the section of the article. This is the house that Jack built. But that's not all!

Publishing with Serna

Let's publish our document with Serna out-of-the-box:

  • Choose Document -> Publish .

  • In the Publish Dialog we can specify the output format - HTML or PDF, and some other parameters. Let's generate an HTML file.

  • Click Generate and wait until the script ends.

If you view the generated file in a browser, it will look like this:

It was a piece of cake, wasn't it? You have learnt to create a document in Serna from scratch, perform basic editing and publish documents for final presentation. Further chapters of the tutorial will deal with different aspects of XML authoring in Serna in greater detail.

Chapter 2. Authoring Tips

Getting Familiar with GUI

Let's consider the main parts of Serna GUI. If you have taken the steps of the the section called “Quick Start”, you must already be more or less acquainted with it. If you've just run Serna, open some XML document in it.

The main parts of Serna GUI are:

  • Menus. The menus are located at the top of the program window. They contain all the commands necessary for creating, editing and publishing documents.

  • Toolbars. The toolbars are normally located under the menus. However, they can be moved to other positions or even hidden. All the commands performed through the toolbar buttons can also be performed through the menus.

  • ContentMap Pane. The ContentMap is the pane at the left side of the program window. It displays the tree structure of a document: the elements and positions between them. You can navigate a document and perform editing right in the ContentMap. To hide/show the ContentMap, click the button at the bottom of the program window.

  • Editing Window. The Editing Window is the part of the program window where you can edit your document and actually see it with all the changes in real time.

  • Document Tabs. The document tabs are located at the bottom of the program window. Click them to switch between several opened documents.

Navigation and Selection

To see how navigation, cursor positioning and selection work in Serna, we'll use Quick Start Interactive Example :

  • Choose Help -> Examples .

  • In the Examples Dialog, double-click Quick Start Interactive Example .

Navigation

You can navigate the document through both the Editing Window and the ContentMap using mouse clicks, arrow keys, hot keys and command menus.

Navigation in Editing Window

Let's navigate our document in the Editing Window. Meanwhile, please note that the ContentMap is going to be in sync with the cursor position in the Editing Window.

  • When you open the document, the cursor is at the very beginning of the document. If it is not so, click there or use Ctrl+PageUp.

  • Next/Previous Position. 

    • Let's move a position to the right. Press the RightArrow key.

      Tip

      To move to the next/previous position, press the RightArrow/LeftArrow key.

  • Next/Previous Word. 

    • Let's move to the next word. Press Ctrl+RightArrow.

      Tip

      To move to the next/previous word, press Ctrl+RightArrow/Ctrl+LeftArrow.

  • Next/Previous Line. 

    • Let's move a line down. Press the DownArrow key.

      Tip

      To move to the next/previous line, press the DownArrow/UpArrow key.

  • Line Start/End. 

    • Click the line with "1. Preface" text.

    • Let's move to the beginning of the line. Press Ctrl+A.

    • Let's move to the end of the line. Press Ctrl+E.

      Tip

      To move to the start/end of the current line, press Ctrl+A/Ctrl+E.

  • Next/Previous Element. 

    • Let's move to the next element. Press Ctrl+DownArrow.

    • We have moved from the title element to the position between title and para.

      Tip

      To move to the next/previous element, press Ctrl+DownArrow/Ctrl+UpArrow.

  • Element Start/End. 

    • Since we are between the title and para of a sect (section), the sect is the current element. Let's move to the end of the sect. Press Ctrl+End.

    • We have moved to the end of the sect (section).

    • Click the para element.

    • Let's move to the end of the para element. Press Ctrl+End.

      Tip

      To move to the start/end of the current element, press Ctrl+Home/Ctrl+End.

  • Page Up/Down. 

    • To move a page up/down, press the PageUp/PageDown key.

  • Document Start/End. 

    • To move to the start of the document, press Ctrl+PageUp.

    • To move to the end of the document, press Ctrl+PageDown.

  • Next Choice. 

    If your document has green Choose elements, you can go to all occurrences of such elements pressing Ctrl+Alt+Enter. Since there are no such elements in our document now, let's add a Choose element at the end of the document:

    • Press Ctrl+PageDown to go to the end of the document.

    • Press Ctrl+Enter to call the Insert Element Dialog.

    • In the Insert Element Dialog, you are offered just one element - sect. Press Enter.

    • The sect with the green Choose element will be inserted.

    Now let's see how moving to the next choice works:

    • Press Ctrl+Alt+Enter.

    • The cursor moves to the next Choose occurrence and the Insert Element Dialog is called.

      Tip

      Generally, if there are more Choose elements in your document, press Ctrl+Alt+Enter to go to the next Choose element, and so on.

Note

Above, we used hot keys to navigate the document. However, in some cases you can use the Go menu, namely:

  • To move to the next/previous element, select Go->Next Element/Previous Element.

  • To move to the start/end of the element, select Go->Element Start/Element End.

  • To move to the next Choose element, select Go->Next Choice.

Navigation via ContentMap

Let's navigate the document via the ContentMap.

  • Click the doc root element in the ContentMap. The cursor in the Editing Window will be moved to the corresponding place.

  • Click any other element or an empty branch in the ContentMap, and the cursor in the Editing Window will be moved to the corresponding place.

  • Next/Previous Item. 

    • Press the DownArrow key and see the highlight travel down the tree structure.

    • Press the UpArrow key and see the highlight travel up the tree structure.

    Note

    When an element is highlighted in the ContentMap, to move the cursor to the same element in the Editing Window press Enter.

  • Element Start/End. 

    • To move to the start/end of the current element, press Ctrl+Home/Ctrl+End.

  • Particular Element Occurrences. 

    Let's go to all occurrences of the "Preface" title element:

    • Find the "Preface" title element in the ContentMap and click it.

      The cursor will be moved to the first occurrence of the element in the Table of Contents.

    • Click the "Preface" title element in the ContentMap once more.

      The cursor will be moved to the second occurrence of the element in the document.

    Tip

    To go through all occurrences of a particular element in the document, find the element in the ContentMap and keep clicking it.

  • Page Up/Down. 

    • To move a page up/down in the ContentMap, press the PageUp/PageDown key.

  • Document Start/End. 

    • To move to the start/end of the document in the ContentMap, press the Home/End key.

  • Focus Shift. Generally, when you navigate the document via the ContentMap, the focus stays in the ContentMap and you can't enter text in the Editing Window.

    You can switch the input focus from the ContentMap to the Editing Window explicitly:

    • To move the focus from the ContentMap to the Editing Window, press F3.

    • To move the focus back from the Editing Window to the ContentMap, press F2.

    You can also enable the automatic input focus shift from the ContentMap to the Editing Window:

    • Click the button in the ContentMap pane to enable the automatic focus shift.

    • Click some element in the ContentMap. The input focus is set to the Editing Window automatically so that you can enter text there.

Note

The Content Map can also be used for document editing. We'll talk about it in more detail in the section called “Selection in ContentMap” and the section called “Working with Elements and Attributes in ContentMap”.

Cursor Positioning

As you navigated through the document, you must have noticed the context hints, the yellow and green tags with frames that appear for some time and disappear. These tags and frames tell you where the elements close to the position of the cursor start and end.

The context hints usually last for a couple of seconds but you can make them persistent:

  • Choose Tools->Preferences.

  • In the Preferences Dialog, choose the General Tab.

  • On the Context Hints pane, check the Persistent checkbox.

    Note

    To disable the context hints, uncheck the Enabled checkbox.

  • Click Apply. Click Close.

Let's navigate the document again paying attention to the context hints:

  • In the ContentMap, click the first sect element.

  • Press F3 to move the focus to the Editing Window.

  • The yellow opening tag tells you that the cursor is before the title element.

  • Press the RightArrow key to move to the next position.

    The green rectangular tag tells you that the cursor is inside the title element.

  • Press the DownArrow key to move to the next line.

    The two yellow tags tell you that the cursor is between the title and para of a sect (section). The sect is the current element.

  • Press Ctrl+End to move to the end of the current element (sect).

    The yellow closing tag tells you that the cursor is after the para element, which is the end of the sect element.

  • Put the cursor in the text of the para with the em child element.

    Although the em element is not immediately next to the cursor, you can see the yellow opening tag with the frame showing you the beginning and the end of the em.

    Tip

    When you place the cursor inside an element that has child elements and the cursor doesn't immediately precede or follow any of them, the context hints appear to show the beginning and the end of the nearest child element that goes before or after the cursor, or both.

Selection

Selection can be done in both the Editing Window and the ContentMap.

Selection in Editing Window

Let's see how selection works in the Editing Window.

  • Element Selection. Here you can learn to select elements using the fact that they reside in a tree-like XML structure.

    • Put the cursor in the "Editing text" title element.

    • Press Ctrl+Alt+UpArrow. The current element (title) will be selected.

    • Press Ctrl+Alt+UpArrow again. The parent (sect) of the current element (title) will be selected.

    • Press Ctrl+Alt+UpArrow again. The parent (sect) of the parent (sect) of the title will be selected.

    • Press Ctrl+Alt+DownArrow. The parent (sect) of the parent (sect) of the title will be unselected.

      Tip

      To select/deselect the current element, press Ctrl+Alt+UpArrow/Ctrl+Alt+DownArrow. Each consecutive Ctrl+Alt+UpArrow/Ctrl+Alt+DownArrow selects/deselects the parent (the parent of the parent,...) of the current element.

    • Now triple click inside the para (paragraph) element. The para will be selected.

      Tip

      To select an element in the Editing Window, triple click it.

    • Let's copy/paste the selected para element:

      • Press Ctrl+C to copy the selected para.

      • Press Ctrl+DownArrow to move to the next element.

      • Press Ctrl+V to paste the para.

    We've learnt to select elements in the Editing Window.

  • Content Selection. 

    Let's learn to select just the content of a particular element.

    • Put the cursor in the "Editing text" title element.

    • Press Ctrl+Alt+S. The content of the title will be selected.

      Tip

      To select the content of the current element, press Ctrl+Alt+S.

    • Let's copy/paste the selected content:

      • Press Ctrl+C to copy the selected content.

      • Press Ctrl+V to paste the content.

    We've learnt to select the content of elements in the Editing Window.

  • Portion Selection. 

    Let's learn to select a portion of the document:

    • Click the beginning of the portion you want to select.

    • Hold down the Shift key and click the end of the portion.

      Note

      You can also click the beginning of the portion and holding down the left mouse button drag the mouse till the end of the portion.

    • Elements Cross-Selection. 

      • Click any point inside the first para.

      • Hold down the Shift key and click any point inside the second para.

      • Both para elements are selected completely regardless of the points you clicked. This is so because the balance selection mode is on.

        Note

        To turn on/off the balance selection mode, press Ctrl+[ or choose Edit->Balance Selection.

    • Exact Selection. 

      • Let's turn off the balance selection mode. Press Ctrl+[.

      • Click any point inside the first para.

      • Hold down the Shift key and click any point inside the second para.

      • The selection is made exactly from one point to another.

    • You can try cutting/copying/pasting the exact and cross-selections to see how Serna deals with them.

Note

Above, we used hot keys to perform selection. However, in some cases you can use the Edit menu, namely:

  • To select/deselect the element or parent, choose Edit->Select Parent/Unselect Parent.

  • To select the content of an element, choose Edit->Select Content.

  • To turn on/off the balance selection mode, choose Edit->Balance Selection.

Selection in ContentMap

Let's see how selection works in the ContentMap.

  • Element Selection. 

    • Click the first sect element and press the Space key. The sect will be selected.

    • Hold down the Ctrl key and click the para element. The para will be selected.

      Tip

      To select an element in the ContentMap, click the element and press the Space key or hold down the Ctrl key and click the element.

    • Now click the em (emphasis) element.

    • Press Ctrl+Alt+UpArrow. The current element (em) will be selected.

    • Press Ctrl+Alt+UpArrow again. The parent (para) of the current element (em) will be selected.

    • Press Ctrl+Alt+UpArrow again. The parent (sect) of the parent (para) of the em will be selected.

    • Press Ctrl+Alt+DownArrow. The parent (sect) of the parent (para) of the em will be unselected.

      Tip

      To select/deselect the current element, press Ctrl+Alt+UpArrow/Ctrl+Alt+DownArrow. Each consecutive Ctrl+Alt+UpArrow/Ctrl+Alt+DownArrow selects/deselects the parent (the parent of the parent,...) of the current element.

  • Content selection. 

    • Click the first sect element in the ContentMap.

    • Press Ctrl+Alt+S. The content of the sect (title and para elements) will be selected.

    Tip

    To select the content of the current element, press Ctrl+Alt+S.

  • Portion Selection. 

    • Click the first sect element in the ContentMap.

    • Hold down the Shift key and click the second sect element. Both sect elements will be selected.

      Tip

      To select a portion of document in the ContentMap, click one item and holding down the Shift key click another item.

      You can also click some element in the Content Map and use Shift+UpArrow/Shift+DownArrow.

You've learnt about document navigation, cursor positioning and selection in Serna. If you've followed the steps above, you must have made some changes to the Quick Start Interactive Example . If you do not intend to keep them, close the document without saving.

Working with Elements and Attributes

Abstract

In this section, we'll run through several simple examples to learn various easy ways of inserting and editing elements and attributes, and the content of XML documents. You'll be able to use a method which is more to your taste.

Working with Elements and Attributes

Creating Itemized List

Let's create an itemized list of big cats:

  • Choose Document -> New Document to call the New Document Dialog.

  • Select Docbook V4.5 -> All . Click OK.

  • From the Root Element drop-down list, select section. Click OK. A new document will be created.

  • Click the Choose element.

    Tip

    Clicking the Choose element calls the Insert Element Dialog.

    Pressing Ctrl+Alt+Enter moves the cursor to the next Choose element and calls the Insert Element Dialog.

  • In the Insert Element Dialog, double-click title.

  • The title element is inserted.

  • Type "Cats" in the title. Click Choose.

  • In the Insert Element Dialog, type "it" and the itemizedlist will be offered. Click Insert.

    Tip

    In the dialogs, the elements are in alphabetical order. If you know exactly which element you need, you can start typing its name and it will be offered automatically.

  • The itemizedlist element is inserted. Click Choose.

  • Some people find pop-up dialogs tiresome as they come and clutter the document view. In Serna, you can dock some dialogs (marked as dockable), so you constantly see them: right-click the Insert Element Dialog and select the Dock Right item from the menu.

  • The Insert Element Dialog is docked to the right side of the program window. In the Insert Element Dialog , double-click listitem.

  • The listitem element is inserted. In the Insert Element Dialog , double-click para.

    Tip

    To call/move the focus to the Insert Element Dialog, press Ctrl+Enter, or choose Element->Insert Element, or click the Insert Element button on the toolbar.

    To call/move the focus to the Insert Element Dialog when the cursor is already on the Choose element, it is enough to press Enter. Or click the Choose element.

  • The para element is inserted.

  • Type "Leopard" in the para.

  • It's convenient to create more list items using the advanced split method:

    • Press Enter. The current element para will be split (a new para will be inserted).

    • Press Enter immediately again. This will split the parent of the para - the first listitem.

      Tip

      To split the current element, press Enter, or choose Element->Split Element, or click the Split Element button on the toolbar.

      To split the parent (the parent of the parent,...) of the current element, press Enter multiple times in a row. This is called advanced element split.

    • Type "Lion" in the para. Press Enter twice to split the listitem.

    • Type "Zebra" in the para. Press Enter twice to split the listitem.

    • Type "Tiger" in the para. Press Enter once to split the para.

  • Oops. Let's join the last two paras:

    • Put the cursor in the last para and press Ctrl+Alt+UpArrow to select the para.

    • Click the Join Elements button on the toolbar. The paras will be joined.

    Tip

    To join two elements of the same type going in a row, select the latter element and choose Element->Join Elements or click the Join Elements button on the toolbar.

  • We've created an itemized list of cats with a weird "Zebra" item.

Wrapping Text into Emphasis

Let's emphasize the "Zebra" text which looks weird on the list of cats:

  • Click "Zebra" text and press Ctrl+Alt+S to select content.

  • When you make a selection, the Insert Element Dialog is replaced with the Wrap Into Element Dialog. Press Ctrl+Enter to move the focus to the Wrap Into Element Dialog.

    Tip

    To call/move the focus to the Wrap Into Element Dialog, select the content and press Ctrl+Enter or Ctrl+T, or choose Element->Tag Region.

  • In the Wrap Into Element Dialog, double-click emphasis.

  • The selected region is wrapped into the emphasis element.

Note

If you need to untag an element, put the cursor in the element and press Ctrl+U or choose Element->Untag Element.

Changing Italic Emphasis into Bold

Let's make the emphasized italic "Zebra" even more prominent, say, bold. To do so, we need to change the role attribute of the emphasis element:

  • Click the emphasis element.

  • Press Alt+Enter to call the Attributes Dialog.

    Tip

    To call the Attributes Dialog, put the cursor in the element and press Alt+Enter, or choose Element->Element Attributes, or click the Element Attributes button on the toolbar.

  • In the Attributes Dialog, click the Add Attribute button and select the role attribute.

  • Type the bold value and click Close.

    Note

    You can also dock this dialog to a side of the Serna window just as you did with the Insert Element Dialog.

  • The emphasis is now bold.

Deleting List Item

Let's delete the "Zebra" item from the list of cats to prove our high IQ:

  • Click the emphasis element.

  • Press Ctrl+Alt+UpArrow three times to select the listitem element.

    Note

    The first Ctrl+Alt+UpArrow selects the current element (emphasis), the second selects the parent of the current element (para) , and the third selects the parent of the parent of the current element (listitem).

    If we had just text without the emphasis element in the para of the listitem, we would press Ctrl+Alt+UpArrow twice to select the listitem.

  • Press the Delete key. The "Zebra" listitem will be deleted.

Tip

To delete a selected element, press the Delete key or Backspace key.

To delete an element when the cursor is before the element, press the Delete key.

To delete an element when the cursor is inside the element, press Ctrl+Delete.

To delete an element when the cursor is after the element, press the Backspace key.

Renaming Itemized List

Let's rename the itemized list into the ordered list to see the number of cats we have:

  • Click the first para.

  • Press Ctrl+UpArrow twice to move from the para element to the itemizedlist element.

  • Press Ctrl+R to call the Rename Element Dialog.

    Tip

    To call the Rename Element Dialog, put the cursor in the element and press Ctrl+R, or choose Element->Rename Element, or click the Rename Element button on the toolbar.

  • In the Rename Element Dialog, select orderedlist and click Rename.

  • The itemizedlist has been turned into the orderedlist.

  • Now we know for sure there are three cats on the list.

Moving List Item

Let's cut the first item and paste it at the end of the list:

  • Put the cursor into the "Leopard" text and press Ctrl+Alt+UpArrow twice to select the listitem.

    Note

    The first Ctrl+Alt+UpArrow selects the current element (para), and the second selects the parent of the current element (listitem).

  • Press Ctrl+X to cut the listitem.

    Tip

    To cut the selected element, press Ctrl+X, or choose Edit->Cut, or click the Cut button on the toolbar.

  • Press Ctrl+End to move to the end of the orderedlist.

  • Press Ctrl+V to paste the listitem.

    Tip

    To paste the element, press Ctrl+V, or choose Edit->Paste, or click the Paste button on the toolbar.

Let's now drag&drop the first item to the end of the list:

  • Put the cursor into the "Lion" text and press Ctrl+Alt+UpArrow twice to select the listitem.

  • Drag the selection over the document.

    Where the dropping of the listitem is not allowed, you see a crossed circle.

    Where the dropping of the listitem is allowed, you see the Insert Element icon.

  • Drop the item at the end of the list.

Tip

To drag&drop a selection, click it and drag to the desired place. Validator shows places where dropping of the current selection is allowed.

Note

You can also try other manipulations:

  • To copy the selected element, press Ctrl+C, or choose Edit->Copy, or click the Copy button on the toolbar. To copy the selected element, press Ctrl-C, or choose Edit->Copy, or click the Copy button on the toolbar.

  • To copy just the text of the selection, press Ctrl+Alt+C or choose Edit-> Copy As Text.

  • To paste the selection, press Ctrl+V, or choose Edit->Paste, or click the Paste button on the toolbar.

  • To paste the selection as text, press Ctrl+Alt+V or choose Edit->Paste As Text.

Working with Elements and Attributes in ContentMap

Above, we worked with elements in the Editing Window. Actually, you can perform some manipulations with elements in the ContentMap as well.

The ContentMap tree shows the elements of the document as well as empty branches where you can insert, paste and drop elements.

Inserting List Item in ContentMap

Sometimes when you want to insert an element, it may be difficult to find the right cursor position in the Editing Window. For example, when you want to add a list item to the middle of the list, it can be hard to determine the exact position for insertion. In such cases, the ContentMap comes in handy.

Let's insert a new list item in the middle of the list in the ContentMap:

  • Click the empty branch between the first two listitem elements. This is the position for inserting a new listitem clearly seen in the ContentMap.

  • Press Ctrl+Enter to call the Insert Element Dialog.

  • In the Insert Element Dialog, double-click the listitem element. The listitem will be inserted.

  • The cursor is on the Choose element. Press Enter to call the Insert Element Dialog.

  • In the Insert Element Dialog, double-click the para element.

  • The para is inserted. Type "Panther" in the para.

Moving List Item in ContentMap

Let's move the first list item to the end of the list. It is convenient to use the drag&drop function:

  • Click the first listitem in the ContentMap.

  • Drag the listitem over the tree structure.

    You see a crossed circle where the dropping of the listitem is not allowed and a pointer cursor with the tag of the listitem where it is allowed.

  • Drop the listitem after the last listitem. Now the "Tiger" listitem is the last.

Other Manipulations in ContentMap

You can also try other operations with elements in the ContentMap, which is analogous to performing the same operations in the Editing Window in most cases.

  • To cut/copy an element in the ContentMap, select the element and press Ctrl+X/Ctrl+C. To copy just the text of the selection, press Ctrl+Alt+C.

    Important

    Clicking an element in the ContentMap does NOT select it. To select an element, click it AND press Ctrl+Alt+UpArrow. To learn more about selection in ContentMap, see the section called “Selection in ContentMap”.

  • To paste an element, press Ctrl+V. To paste an element as text, press Ctrl+Alt+V.

  • To delete an element in the ContentMap, click either it or the empty branch before the element and press the Delete key, or click the empty branch after the element and press the Backspace key.

  • To edit attributes of an element, click the element and press Alt+Enter, or choose Element->Element Attributes, or click the Element Attributes button on the toolbar. If you point the cursor over an element in the ContentMap, you'll see a hint with the element's attributes.

  • To split an element, click it and choose Element->Split Element, or click the Split Element button on the toolbar. Note that the Enter key won't work to split elements in the ContentMap and consequently the advanced split won't work.

  • To join two elements of the same type going in a row, select the latter element and choose Element->Join Elements or click the Join Elements button on the toolbar.

  • To wrap an element in another element, select the element and press Ctrl+Enter or Ctrl+T, or choose Element->Tag Region to call the Wrap Into Element Dialog.

  • To untag an element, click it and press Ctrl+U or choose Element->Untag Element.

  • To rename an element, click it and press Ctrl+R, or choose Element->Rename Element, or click the Rename Element button on the toolbar to call the Rename Element Dialog.

Custom Content

Abstract

Custom Content is a convenient way to regularly insert the same content portion which may consist of a single element or have a complex structure. Custom content is a pre-defined content portion (template) that can be inserted into your document.

Serna comes with some ready-made custom content available through menu, hot keys and toolbar buttons. For details, see the section called “Inserting Ready-Made "Section" Custom Content”.

Custom content buttons are, of course, different for different document types. What works for DITA may not be available in Docbook.

For example, the Custom Content toolbar contains the following buttons for Docbook documents: Insert Graphic, Insert Section, Set Bold, etc.

You can also create and edit your own custom content templates. For details, see the section called “Creating New Custom Content”.

Inserting Ready-Made "Section" Custom Content

Let's insert a section with a subsection using the ready-made Insert Section and Insert Subsection custom content:

  • Choose Document -> New Document to call the New Document Dialog.

  • Select Docbook V4.5 -> Article . Click OK.

  • A new document is created.

  • Click the Insert Section button on the toolbar. A section will be inserted.

  • Click the Insert Subsection button on the toolbar. A subsection will be inserted.

Tip

To insert a ready-made custom content, click its button on the toolbar, or use its hot key, or choose the corresponding item from the Edit->Custom Content menu.

Creating New Custom Content

Creating "Section with Para" Custom Content

You can create a new custom content template "as is", taking it from the document.

Let's create a new custom content that will insert a section with title and para:

  • Choose Document -> New Document to call the New Document Dialog.

  • Select Docbook V4.5 -> Article . Click OK.

  • A new document is created. Insert a section with a title and a para.

  • Select the section. The selection will form the content of the custom content template.

  • Click the Create New Custom Content button on the toolbar (or choose Edit->Custom Content->New Custom Content).

  • The Custom Content Dialog appears. Some fields including the Content are filled automatically.

  • Change some parameters:

    • In the Name field, type section with para.

    • In the Inscription field, type Insert section with para.

    • From the Icon drop-down list, select the custom_content_1 icon.

    • Click Ok.

  • The button associated with the newly created custom content appears on the toolbar.

Let's insert the new custom content:

  • Click the button (or choose Edit->Custom Content->Insert section with para).

  • The section with title and para custom content is inserted.

Let's make the created custom content persistent and working with any Docbook V4.5 document:

  • Choose View->Save View.

  • In the Save View Message Box, click the Save button.

Creating Context-Sensitive Custom Content

You can create context-sensitive custom content, i.e. with the very same button you will insert different content depending on the cursor position.

As an interesting example, try the ready-made Insert Itemized List Item button:

  • Choose Document -> New Document to call the New Document Dialog.

  • Select Docbook V4.5 -> All . Click OK.

  • From the Root Element drop-down list, select section. Click OK.

  • A new document is created. Insert title and para.

  • Click the Insert Itemized List Item button on the toolbar.

  • An itemizedlist with a listitem is inserted.

  • Click the Insert Itemized List Item button again.

  • Not a new itemizedlist, but the second listitem is inserted.

Creating Context-Sensitive "Graphic" Custom Content

Let's create a custom content that will insert the inlinegraphic element for an image within text, and the figure element with a child called graphic for an image inside the section element:

  • Choose Document -> New Document to call the New Document Dialog.

  • Select Docbook V4.5 -> All . Click OK.

  • From the Root Element drop-down list, select section. Click OK.

  • A new document is created. Insert title and para. Type some text in the para.

  • Click the Create New Custom Content button on the toolbar (or choose Edit->Custom Content->New Custom Content).

  • In the Custom Content Dialog, specify:

    • In the Name field, type MyGraphic.

    • In the Inscription field, type Insert MyGraphic.

    • From the Icon drop-down list, select the custom_content_2 icon.

    • In the Hotkey field, press Ctrl+Alt+M.

  • Specify the first template and its context:

    • In the Content field, enter:

      <inlinegraphic fileref="$(file caption='Choose Image'
      filter='Image files (*.gif *.jpg);;All files (*)')"/>
    • In the If matches field, enter:

      text()
    • Click the Add button to add a new context tab.

  • Specify the second template and its context:

    • In the Content field, enter:

      <figure><title/><graphic fileref="$(file caption='Choose Image'
      filter='Image files (*.gif *.jpg);;All files (*)')"/></figure>
    • In the If matches field, enter:

      section|chapter
  • Click Ok.

  • The button associated with the newly created context-sensitive custom content appears on the toolbar.

Let's insert the new context-sensitive custom content:

  • Put the cursor in the text. Click the button (or choose Edit->Custom Content->Insert MyGraphic, or press Ctrl+Alt+M).

  • Browse for an image and open it.

  • The image is inserted as inlinegraphic.

  • Put the cursor at the end of the section. Click the button (or choose Edit->Custom Content->Insert MyGraphic, or press Ctrl+Alt+M).

  • Browse for an image and open it.

  • The image is inserted as a figure with title and graphic. Let's type "MyGraphic" title.

Let's make the created custom content persistent and working with any Docbook V4.5 document:

  • Choose View->Save View.

  • In the Save View Message Box, click the Save button.

Reusable Content

Abstract

It is convenient to create a recurrent content just once and then simply reuse it in other places in the document or in other documents. It is enough to make changes to a single occurrence of the reusable content and the other occurrences will be updated automatically. Imagine you have a copyright notice on several pages of your document and you need to change the year. Having the copyright notice as a reusable content, you change the year just in one place and the change is applied to all occurrences of the copyright notice.

Reusable content is created by means of entities, XIncluded documents, and DITA conref mechanism. We'll learn how to handle entities and Xinclude in the section called “Working with Entities” and the section called “Working with XInclude”.

For information about the DITA conref approach, please refer to DITA documentation at http://dita.xml.org/arch-conref.

Working with Entities

An entity is a reusable fragment of the document content that can be reused multiple times by reference. Unlike other editors, Serna allows you to edit entity references in-place and shows them as regular content.

There are two types of entities:

  • Internal EntitiesAn internal entity can be reused only in the document in which it was declared.

  • External EntitiesAn external entity is saved to a separate file and can be reused in any document.

Creating Legal Notice as Internal Entity

Converting Legal Notice to Internal Entity

Let's create a legal notice and convert it into internal entity to reuse in the document:

  • Choose Document -> New Document to call the New Document Dialog.

  • Select Docbook V4.5 -> All . Click OK.

  • From the Root Element drop-down list, select section. Click OK.

  • A new document is created. Insert title and para.

  • In the title, type "Internal Entity Example". In the para, type "All rights reserved."

  • Select the para. This will be the content of the entity.

  • Choose Entity->Convert to Internal Entity.

  • In the Convert to Internal Entity Dialog, type "legal-notice" Entity Name. Click OK.

  • The para is converted to the internal entity that can be reused in the current document.

Inserting Legal Notice Internal Entity

Let's reuse the declared internal entity:

  • Move the cursor to the end of the section.

  • Click the Insert Internal Entity button on the toolbar (or press Ctrl+7, or choose Entity->Insert Internal Entity).

  • In the Insert Internal Entity Dialog, select the legal-notice entity from the Internal DTD Subset. Click OK.

  • The internal entity is inserted.

  • Type more text in the first internal entity, and the changes will be automatically propagated to the other internal entity.

Creating Birthday List as External Entity

Converting Birthday List to External Entity

Let's create a birthday list and convert it into the external entity to reuse in another document:

  • Choose Document -> New Document to call the New Document Dialog.

  • Select Docbook V4.5 -> All . Click OK.

  • From the Root Element drop-down list, select section. Click OK.

  • A new document is created.

  • Insert title. In the title, type "External Entity Example".

  • Insert an itemizedlist with listitems.

  • Select the itemizedlist. This will be the content of the entity.

  • Choose Entity->Convert to External Entity.

  • In the Convert to External Entity Dialog, type "birthday-list" in the Entity Name field and "birthdays.xml" in the File Name field. Click OK.

  • The itemizedlist is converted to the external entity.

  • Choose Document->Save to save the current document in which the external entity was declared. When you save the document, the "birthday-list" external entity is saved automatically to the birthdays.xml file and can be reused in other documents.

Inserting Birthday List External Entity from File

Let's reuse the external entity in another document:

  • Open a new document:

    • Choose Document -> New Document to call the New Document Dialog.

    • Select Docbook V4.5 -> All . Click OK.

    • From the Root Element drop-down list, select section. Click OK.

    • A new document is created. Insert title and para.

  • Click the Insert External Entity button on the toolbar (or press Ctrl+6, or choose Entity->Insert External Entity).

  • In the Insert External Entity Dialog:

    • Select the Insert From File radio button.

    • Browse for the birthdays.xml file.

    • Type "birthday-list" in the Entity Name field.

    • Click OK.

  • The birthday-list external entity is now declared in the document and is inserted from the birthdays.xml file.

Working with XInclude

XInclude allows you to include the content of standalone XML documents or their parts into your XML document. It is also possible to include plain text documents using XInclude.

  • You can take standalone documents and xinclude them into your document. For example, you can create confectionery.xml and xinclude chocolates.xml and candies.xml.

  • You can turn a part of your document into an xincluded standalone document. For example, you can turn the section "Ice Cream" of desserts.xml into xincluded standalone ice-cream.xml.

Converting Section to XIncluded Document

Let's create a document "Gardening Tips" and turn its section "Planting" into a standalone xincluded XML document:

  • Create a new document:

    • Choose Document -> New Document to call the New Document Dialog.

    • Select Docbook V4.5 -> Article . Click OK.

    • A new document is created.

    • In the title, type "Gardening Tips".

    • Click the Insert Section button on the toolbar. In the title, type "Planting".

    • Click the Insert Subsection button on the toolbar. In the title, type "Planting Plum Trees".

  • Before we go any further, let's provide the section "Planting Plum Trees" with an ID. We'll need the ID later in the section called “XIncluding Part of Document” when we xinclude "Planting Plum Trees" as a part of document "Planting".

    • Click the section and press Alt+Enter to call the Attributes Dialog.

    • Add the id attribute and type the plums value. Click Close.

  • Let's convert the section "Planting" to an xincluded document:

    • Select the section "Planting".

    • Choose Entity->Convert to XInclude.

    • In the Convert to XML Xinclude Dialog, type the "planting" file name. Click Ok.

    • The section is converted to an xincluded standalone XML document.

    • Choose Document->Save to save the current document. When you save the document, the portion converted to XInclude is saved automatically to the planting file and can be reused in other documents.

XIncluding Whole Document

Let's xinclude the whole planting document in another document:

  • Create a new document:

    • Choose Document -> New Document to call the New Document Dialog.

    • Select Docbook V4.5 -> Article . Click OK.

    • A new document is created.

    • In the title, type "Outdoor Activities".

    • Put the cursor near the Choose element.

  • Click the XInclude XML File button on the toolbar (or press Ctrl+8, or choose Entity->XInclude XML File).

  • In the XInclude XML File Dialog:

    • Browse for the planting file.

    • From the ID drop-down list, select <Insert Whole Document>.

    • Click Ok.

  • The planting file is inserted as an xincluded document.

XIncluding Part of Document

It is possible to xinclude not only the whole document but also some part of it having an ID.

Let's xinclude just the section "Planting Plum Trees" of the planting document:

  • Click the Undo button to undo the XInclusion of the whole document.

  • Click the XInclude XML File button on the toolbar (or press Ctrl+8, or choose Entity->XInclude XML File).

  • In the XInclude XML File Dialog:

    • Browse for the planting file.

    • From the ID drop-down list, select plums which is the ID of the section "Planting Plum Trees".

    • Click Ok.

  • The section "Planting Plum Trees" of the planting file is xincluded in the document.

Tables

Abstract

In Serna, it is possible to create CALS and HTML model tables. These table models use different elements and have different table structures.

In our tutorial, we'll work with CALS tables. The CALS table model is supported by the Table Tools plugin, which greatly simplifies their creation and modification. HTML tables can be created manually, using the Insert Element Dialog and Attributes Dialog.

Concept of XML Tables

XML tables are constructed from elements. In Serna's WYSIWYG mode, a CALS table looks like this:

If you switch to the Tag mode (choose View->Show Markup), you'll see markup tags. This is what the same table looks like in the Tag mode:

So, an XML table is not just a grid, but it actually consists of elements such as body, header, footer, rows, entries, etc.

Creating CALS Table with Table Tools Plugin

Let's create the CALS table we saw in the previous section. It is convenient to use the Table Tools plugin for working with CALS tables instead of inserting the table elements manually:

  • Choose Document -> New Document to call the New Document Dialog.

  • Select Docbook V4.5 -> Article . Click OK. A new document will be created.

  • Choose View->Stylesheet Parameters->Clean not to be distracted by the grey draft areas.

  • In the title, type "CALS Tables".

  • Choose Table->Insert->Table (or click the Insert Table button on the toolbar).

  • In the Insert Table Dialog, check the Has Header checkbox. Click OK.

  • A table is inserted. In the title, type "Capitals".

  • Type inside the entries. The table is ready.

Let's add more rows using the Table Tools plugin:

  • Choose Table->Insert->Row Below twice. This will add two more rows to the table.

  • Type inside the new entries.

  • You can also try adding a new row manually:

    • Put the cursor after the last row.

    • Press Ctrl+Enter to call the Insert Element Dialog. Insert row.

    • Press Enter to call the Insert Element Dialog. Insert entry.

    • Put the cursor after the inserted entry.

    • Press Ctrl+Enter to call the Insert Element Dialog. Insert entry.

Note

As you can see, it is much more convenient to use the Table Tools plugin when handling CALS tables. However, you'll have to insert and edit table elements manually when creating HTML tables.

Let's delete the last row of our table, add a "Continent" column and align text to center using the Table Tools plugin:

  • Put the cursor in the last row.

  • Choose Table->Delete->Row(s). The row will be deleted.

  • Click the Insert Column Before button on the toolbar (or choose Table->Insert->Column Before). A column will be inserted.

  • Type inside the new entries.

  • Let's center text in the whole table. Choose Table->Attributes->Align in Table->Center. Text will be aligned to center.

Redlining

Abstract

Redlining is used for collaborative authoring. The corrections are marked as "deleted", "inserted" and "commented", and they can be easily accepted or rejected.

You can perform redlining and revision of redlined documents using the Redlining menu or the Redlining toolbar.

Redlining Christmas Letter

Let's redline a Christmas letter (you can create it or open any other document, e.g. Help->Examples->Quick Start Interactive Example):

  • Select a portion you want to delete.

  • Press the Redline as Deleted button on the toolbar.

  • In the Redline as Deleted Dialog, type some annotation or leave it empty. Click OK.

  • The selected word "wood" is marked as deleted.

  • Let's suggest a correct variant. Click the Redline as Inserted button on the toolbar.

  • In the Redline as Inserted Dialog, type some annotation or leave it empty. Click OK.

  • The insertion marking brackets appear.

  • Type inside the brackets and the text will be marked as inserted.

  • Select another portion you want to delete.

  • Press the Redline as Deleted button on the toolbar.

  • In the Redline as Deleted Dialog, type some annotation or leave it empty. Click OK.

  • The selected word "car" is marked as deleted.

  • Let's suggest a correct variant. Type what you would like to insert.

  • Select the portion to be marked as inserted.

  • Click the Redline as Inserted button on the toolbar.

  • In the Redline as Inserted Dialog, type some annotation or leave it empty. Click OK.

  • The selected word "bicycle" is marked as inserted.

  • Select a portion you would like to comment on.

  • Click the Redline as Commented button on the toolbar.

  • In the Redline as Commented Dialog, type some comment or leave it empty. Click OK.

  • The selection is marked as commented with yellow.

Revising Redlined Letter

Let's revise the redlined document from the beginning:

  • Click the Find Next Redlining button on the toolbar.

  • The first redlining is found. You can see its annotation text on the toolbar .

  • Click the Accept Redlining button on the toolbar. The word "wood" marked as deleted will be deleted.

  • Click the Find Next Redlining button on the toolbar.

  • The next redlining is found. You can see its annotation text on the toolbar .

  • Click the Accept Redlining button on the toolbar. The word "would" marked as inserted will be inserted.

  • Let's make the cursor move automatically to the next redlining after accepting/rejecting a redlining: сheck the Redlining->Move After Review menu item.

  • Click the Find Next Redlining button on the toolbar.

  • The next redlining is found. You can see its annotation text on the toolbar .

  • The annotation is quite long. To see the whole annotation, click the Edit Redlining button on the toolbar. Read the annotation and click Cancel.

  • Since we still want a car, click the Reject Redlining button on the toolbar. The word "car" marked as deleted will stay.

  • The cursor moves automatically to the next redlining. You can see its annotation text on the toolbar .

  • Since we don't want a bicycle, click the Reject Redlining button on the toolbar. The word "bicycle" marked as inserted will be deleted.

  • The cursor moves automatically to the next redlining which is a comment. You can see its text on the toolbar .

  • To see the whole comment, click the Edit Redlining button on the toolbar. Read the annotation and click Cancel.

  • Choose Redlining->Remove Redlining Mark. The comment on the "PS" will be removed.

  • When the last redlining is accepted/rejected/removed, you'll see a notice.

Chapter 3. PDF and HTML Publishing

Abstract

In Serna, you can publish your documents in HTML or PDF format using external applications.

For transformation to HTML, Serna comes with XSLTProc in the distribution. You can also install and use Saxon, FOP, XEP, and Antenna House XSL Formatter.

HTML Publishing of Docbook Document

Let's publish spiders.xml document in HTML (you can create a similar document, or open any other Docbook document, e.g. Help->Examples->Serna User's FAQ):

  • Open the document in Serna.

  • Click the Publish button on the toolbar (or press Ctrl+P, or choose Document->Publish).

  • In the Publish Dialog:

    • From the Publishing output drop-down list, select HTML(Single Chunk).

    • Click Generate.

    • Wait until the script ends.

    • Click View and the generated HTML file will be opened in your browser.

PDF Publishing of Docbook Document with XEP

Let's publish the same document in PDF with XEP:

  • Purchase and install XEP Engine.

    Note

    To run XEP, you must have Java installed on your computer.

  • Add the XEP installation path to the PATH system variable:

    • From the Start Menu, choose Start->Settings->Control Panel.

    • Double-click System to open the System Properties window.

    • On the Advanced tab, click Environment Variables.

    • In the System variables combo box, select the PATH variable and click Edit.

    • In the Variable value edit box, add the path of the XEP directory.

    • Click OK in the Edit System Variable dialog box.

    • Click OK in the Environment Variables dialog box.

      Note

      The instructions are given for Classic Start menu and Classic View of Control Panel.

    • Restart Serna.

  • Open the document in Serna.

  • Click the Publish button on the toolbar (or press Ctrl+P, or choose Document->Publish).

  • In the Publish Dialog:

    • From the Publishing output drop-down list, select PDF(with XEP).

    • Click Generate and wait until the script ends.

    • Click View and the generated PDF file will be opened.

Chapter 4. XSLT Parameter Sets

Abstract

The view of a document (fonts, enumeration of chapters and sections, etc) may be controlled by values of some XSLT parameters of the stylesheet that is applied to the document.

Values of XSLT parameters can be grouped into sets. For example, there can be a set:

  • title-font-name="Arial"

  • show-draft-notes="true"

An alternative instance of this set can be:

  • title-font-name="Times"

  • show-draft-notes="false"

If you switch between these two sets, the document will be represented differently (the title font will change from Arial to Times, and the draft notes will be hidden from the user).

You can switch between alternative XSLT Parameter Sets available for documents of a particular type changing the view of the document on-the-fly, edit them, and create your own sets.

Switching XSLT Parameter Sets

Let's switch the XSLT Parameter Set for a Docbook document:

  • Create or open a Docbook V4.5 document.

  • Find the XSLT Parameter Set drop-down list on the toolbar. There are two XSLT Parameter Sets available for Docbook documents: "Default View" and "Clean". The "Default View" displays grey draft areas in your document.

  • Select "Clean" from the list. The draft areas will disappear.

Note

You can make your documents open automatically with an XSLT Parameter Set other than the factory default one (e.g. not to switch each time manually from "Default View" to "Clean" in the case of Docbook documents):

  • Choose View->Save View.

  • In the Save View Message Box, click the Save button.

Now all Docbook V4.5 documents will open automatically with the "Clean" XSLT Parameter Set.

Editing XSLT Parameter Set

Let's change the font of the "Clean" XSLT Parameter Set:

  • Choose View->Stylesheet Parameters->XSLT Parameter Sets.

  • The XSLT Parameter Sets Dialog will appear.

  • In the XSLT Parameter Sets Dialog, do the following:

    • From the Parameter Set>>Name drop-down list, select Clean.

    • In the XSLT Parameters combo box, select body.font.family. Click Edit.

    • In the Edit XSLT Parameter Dialog, type "Tahoma" in the Value field. Click OK.

    • In the XSLT Parameters combo box, select body.font.master. Click Edit.

    • In the Edit XSLT Parameter Dialog, type "20" in the Value field. Click OK.

    • In the XSLT Parameter Sets Dialog , click OK.

    • The font of the document will be changed from "Times, 12" to "Tahoma, 20."

Note

The changes in the "Clean" XSLT Parameter Set are applied to the current document only. To make the changes persistent for all documents of the same type, you must save them:

  • Choose View->Save View.

  • In the Save View Message Box, click the Save button.

Now all Docbook V4.5 documents will open automatically with the modified "Clean" XSLT Parameter Set.

Chapter 5. Serna Views

Abstract

You can customize the view of Serna by changing the location of the GUI controls (buttons, menus, and dockable dialogs) and adjusting plugin settings, and make it persistent for all documents of a specific type. If you want to return the original view, you can restore it.

Actually, we have already customized and saved the Serna view in the section called “Creating New Custom Content”, where we created new custom content buttons and made them persistent for all Docbook V4.5 documents. Also, in Chapter 4, XSLT Parameter Sets, we switched the XSLT Parameter Set to "Clean", customized it and optionally saved the view. In this chapter, we'll try more examples of Serna view customization.

Saving Customized View

Saving "Clean" XSLT Parameter Set for Docbook Documents

When documents are opened with the "Default View" XSLT Parameter Set, you see the grey draft areas. To remove the draft areas, you have to switch to the "Clean" XSLT Parameter Set each time manually.

Let's switch to the "Clean" XSLT Parameter Set once and make the view persistent for all Docbook V4.5 documents:

  • Open a Docbook V4.5 document.

  • Choose View->Stylesheet Parameters->Clean (or select the Clean item from the XSLT Parameter Set drop-down list on the toolbar).

  • The draft areas have disappeared.

  • Let's save the customized Serna view to make it persistent for all documents of the same type as the current one:

    • Choose View->Save View.

    • In the Save View Message Box, click the Save button.

    • Now the saved view will work with any Docbook V4.5 document.

Restoring Original View

We have customized the Serna view for Docbook V4.5 documents (see the section called “Saving "Clean" XSLT Parameter Set for Docbook Documents”). Let's now discard our personal settings and restore the original view.

Note

We also customized the Serna view for Docbook V4.5 documents in the section called “Creating New Custom Content”. So if you created the custom content buttons and saved them, and now restore the original view, you will lose them.

To restore the original view, take the following steps:

  • Open a Docbook V4.5 document.

  • Choose View->Restore View.

  • In the Restore View Message Box, click the Restore button.

  • If the document is not saved, you'll be prompted to save it.

  • The document is reloaded and the view is restored to its original state: the XSLT Parameter Set is switched to the "Default View".

  • Our personal view settings were lost and now this original view will work with any Docbook V4.5 document.