Editing Actions in Grid Mode

Since Grid mode presents XML content in a structured grid of nested tables, editing content in this mode can be done with a combination of the Content Completion Assistant and actions that allow you to work with the structure or content of the nested tables much like you would with any table. Oxygen XML Author Eclipse plugin provides ways to edit content in the cells of the nested tables or to edit the structure of the tables.

Tip: There are two different types of layouts available in Grid mode. Most people prefer to leave it on the default Grid mode layout, but there is also a Tree mode layout that presents the structure of the document in more of a vertical tree-like manner. You can switch between the two layouts to see which one works best for you particular situation from the Document > Grid Layout menu.

Expanding/Collapsing Nodes

An arrow sign () displayed at the left of a node indicates that it has child nodes. To display the children, click this arrow sign. To collapse a node, click the reverse arrow sign (). The expand/collapse actions can also be invoked with the NumPad+ and NumPad- keys, or from the Expand/Collapse submenu of the contextual menu.

To expand all child nodes, right-click the cell that contains the parent node and select Expand All from the Expand/Collapse submenu. To collapse all node, right-click any cell and select Collapse All from the Expand/Collapse submenu.

Editing Elements or Attributes

To edit elements or attributes in Grid mode, simply double-click the cell that contains the element or attribute (or select the cell and press Enter) to invoke the Content Completion Assistant. This opens a pop-up window that offers a list of proposals that are valid for that particular node.

Editing Text Content in Cells

To edit the text value of a cell, simply select the grid cell and press Enter (or double-click the cell), and start editing.

To stop editing a cell value, press Enter again.

To cancel the editing without saving the current changes in the document, press the Esc key.

Editing the Structure of the Nested Tables

To edit the structure of the nested tables in Grid mode, Oxygen XML Author Eclipse plugin provides the following actions in the contextual menu (many of them also appear in the submenus of the Document menu, or the toolbar):

Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete common editing actions: Executes the typical editing actions on the currently selected elements. The Cut and Copy operations preserve the styles of the copied content.
Paste as Child: Pastes the copied content as the last child of the current selection.
Duplicate: Creates a new node by duplicating the currently selected one.
Insert Before: Offers a list of valid nodes, depending on the context, and inserts your selection before the currently selected node, as a sibling.
Insert After: Offers a list of valid nodes, depending on the context, and inserts your selection after the currently selected node, as a sibling.
Append Child: Offers a list of valid nodes, depending on the context, and appends your selection as a child of the currently selected node.
Sort Ascending, Sort Descending: The sorting result depends on the data type of the column content. It could be a numerical sorting for numbers or an alphabetical sorting for text information. The editor automatically analyzes the content and decides what type of sorting to apply. When a mixed set of values is present in the sorted column, a dialog box is displayed that allows you to choose the desired type of sorting between numerical and alphabetical.
Insert Row: Inserts a new row below the current selection. To insert a new row, you could also select the row header (the zone to the left of the row that holds the row number) and press Enter.
Insert Column: Inserts a column after the current selection.
Clear Content: Removes all content from the current cell.
Expand/Collapse > Expand All: Expands the selection and all its children.
Expand/Collapse > Collapse All: Collapses the selection and all its children.
Expand/Collapse > Expand Children: Expands all the children of the selection but not the selection.
Expand/Collapse > Collapse Children: Collapses all the children of the selection but not the selection.
Expand/Collapse > Collapse Others: Collapses all the siblings of the current selection but not the selection.
Refresh Selected: Forces the layout to be recomputed.