Customizing Default Options

Oxygen XML Author Eclipse plugin has an extensive set of options that you can configure. When Oxygen XML Author Eclipse plugin in installed, these options are set to default values. You can provide a different set of default values for an installation using an XML options file.

Creating an XML Options File

To create an options file, follow these steps:

It is recommended that you use a fresh install for this procedure, to make sure that you do not copy personal or local preferences.
Open Oxygen XML Author Eclipse plugin and open the Preferences dialog box .
Go through the options and set them to the desired defaults.
Go to back to the main preferences page and click Export Global Options to create an XML options file.

Configuring an Installation to Use Customized Default Options

There are several methods that you can use to configure an Oxygen XML Author Eclipse plugin installation to use the customized default options from the created XML options file.

The possible methods for using customized default options during an installation include:

Copy the XML Options File to the Installation Directory

In the [OXYGEN_INSTALL_DIR], create a folder called preferences and copy the created XML options file into it (for example: [ECLIPSE-INSTALL-DIR]/plugins/com.oxygenxml.author/preferences/default.xml, or if the plugin was installed as a drop-in: [ECLIPSE-INSTALL-DIR]/dropins/com.oxygenxml.author/plugins/com.oxygenxml.author/preferences/default.xml).
Note: The XML file placed in the preferences folder can have any name as long as it has the extension xml or xpr. If there are multiple such files in the preferences folder only the first one found is used.
Specify a Path to the XML Options File in a Startup Parameter
Set the path to the XML options file as the value of the com.oxygenxml.default.options system property in the Eclipse configuration file ([ECLIPSE-INSTALL-DIR]/configuration/config.ini). The path can be specified with any of the following:
- A URL or file path relative to the application installation folder. For example:
```
com.oxygenxml.default.options=file\:default.xml
```
  This will make Oxygen XML Author Eclipse plugin look for default.xml inside the installation folder (for example: [ECLIPSE-INSTALL-DIR]/plugins/com.oxygenxml.author/preferences/default.xml, or if the plugin was installed as a drop-in: [ECLIPSE-INSTALL-DIR]/dropins/com.oxygenxml.author/plugins/com.oxygenxml.author/preferences/default.xml).
- A system variable that specifies the file path. For example:
```
com.oxygenxml.default.options=file\:${system(CONFIG)}/default.xml
```
- An environmental variable that specifies the file path. For example:
```
com.oxygenxml.default.options=file\:${env(CONFIG)}/default.xml
```
Note: In the Eclipse configuration file, the backslash (\) is considered a special character. Therefore, use forward slashes for separators inside the file path.