Extending and Sharing a Document Type (Framework)

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For the purpose of providing specific instructions for sharing an extended framework, suppose that you want to share an extension of the DITA framework in which you have removed certain elements from the content completion list. The follow steps describe how you can create an extended framework that can be shared with others:

1. In a location where you have full write access, create a folder structure similar to this: custom_frameworks/dita-extension.
2. Open the Preferences dialog box (Options > Preferences) and go to Document Type Association > Locations. In this preferences page, add the path to your custom_frameworks folder in the Additional frameworks directories list.
3. Go to the Document Type Association preferences page and select the DITA document type configuration and use the Extend button to create an extension for it.
4. Give the extension an appropriate name (for example, DITA - Custom), select External for the Storage option, and specify an appropriate path (for example, path/to/.../custom_frameworks/dita-extension/dita-extension.framework).
5. Make your changes to the extension. For example, you could go to the Content Completion subtab of the Author tab and in the Filter - Remove content completion items list, add elements that you do not want to be presented to the end users.
6. Click OK to close the dialog box and then OK or Apply to save the changes to the Document Type Association preferences page.

   Results

   After you perform these steps you will have a fully functional framework in the dita-extension folder and it can be shared with others.

There are several ways that you can share the extended framework with others:

• Copy it to their [OXYGEN_INSTALL_DIR]/frameworks directory.
• Create a custom_frameworks folder (anywhere on disk) and copy the extended framework into it. Then add the path to your custom_frameworks folder in the Additional frameworks directories list in the Document Type Association > Locations preferences page.
• Distribute the extended framework along with a project by following these steps:

  1. On your local drive, create a directory (with full write access) that contains the project files and a custom_frameworks folder with your extended framework inside.
  2. Start Oxygen XML Editor, go to the Project view and create a project. Save it in the newly created directory.
  3. In the Document Type Association > Locations preferences page, select Project Options at the bottom of the page.
  4. In the Additional frameworks directories list, add an entry like this: ${pd}/custom_frameworks.
  5. Add other resources to your project (for example, you can have all your DITA content located inside the project folder).
  6. You can then share the new project directory with other users. For example, you can commit it to your version control system and have them update their working copy. When they open the customized project file in the Project view, the new framework becomes available in the list of Document Types.

• Deploy the extended framework configuration as an add-on.