Taking Advantage of Other XML Options

For the more XML-savvy, InDesign offers several controls in the Structure pane and its palette menu.

In the pane:

• The Validate Structure button checks the current XML structure in the Structure pane and compares it against the DTD file imported with the XML data or imported later using the Import DTD option in the pane's palette menu. There's a copy of the button at the bottom of the pane, along with the View Errors List button that shows any errors found.

• The Add an Attribute button lets you add an XML attribute, which is essentially a comment such as the revision date. It has no effect on the flow of information or the appearance or role of an element.

• The Add an Element button lets you add an XML element, which is a tag applied to text or an object.

• The Remove Selected Elements button removes any selected elements.

In the palette menu:

• The New Element, New Attribute, New Comment, and New Processing Instruction menu items let you add those items.

• Delete deletes items.

• Edit edits items.

• Untag Element removes an elements XML tag.

• Validate from Root Element verifies the structure starting at the root (topmost) object against the DTD information.

• Validate from Selected Element starts the validation at the selected item.

• View List of Errors shows a dialog box with any validation errors found.

• Import DTD imports a data type description file, which defines the "role" of tags (such as indicating that the Head tag begins a section of a story).

  New Feature ‚  

  The ability to specify and validate DTDs is new to InDesign CS

• Delete DTD removes the DTD file from the InDesign document but leaves the structure untouched.

• View DTD shows a dialog box with the actual DTD information (similar to a code preview in an HTML editor).

• The Hide Attributes, Hide Comments, and Hide Processing Instructions menu options remove these non-content markers from view in the Structure pane so you can concentrate on just the elements.

• Show/Hide Text Snippets shows or hides the first few words of text for each Text Content icon in the pane. Seeing these snippets is very helpful in knowing what each element actually contains.

• Add Untagged Items adds to the Structure pane all objects in the InDesign document that aren't already tagged with an XML tag. This helps ensure that you don't miss any object when reviewing the document structure.

• The Map Tags to Styles and Map Styles to Tags menu options match InDesign styles to XML tags, as covered earlier in this chapter.