Using data attributes

Data attributes customize how a document displays content. Use data attributes to add a table of contents and to customize calculated values, define conditions, filters, conditional formatting properties, and styles.

Calculated values

Create JavaScript snippets to process data attributes. You might use these snippets to combine data attributes, trim white space, and transform numeric values into textual descriptions. You can process any data attribute from the current context, which includes the query attributes of the element and the attributes from all the parent queries of the elements.

Conditions

Use expressions that are based on data attributes or template variables to define conditions for when an element is to be rendered. A condition is a JavaScript expression that evaluates to a Boolean value.

Filter versus conditions

Although filters and conditions seem similar, they are two different mechanisms that serve different purposes:
  • A filter can be evaluated as the data is extracted from the data source.
  • A condition is evaluated only after the data is extracted from the data source.
A condition is evaluated only once for an element, even if that element is a query. Therefore, you cannot use the current query as a context for a condition.

Although you can sometimes use conditions instead of filters, using filters yields better performance because only a subset of data is processed.

Conditional formatting

You can use expressions to define formatting properties based on data attribute values. Conditional formatting is similar to element conditions except that the return values depend on the property type.

Editable elements

You can edit the content for: text, styled text, image, include file, bookmark, and hyperlink. Double-click the elements to edit its content.

Tables of contents, figures, and tables in Microsoft Word documents

To add a table of contents to your output, define the table of contents in your template or style sheet. If you define the table of contents in the template, the table is not shown in the Microsoft Word document until you update the document fields. To update the fields, use the Update Fields or Update Table feature in Microsoft Word or use the macros contained in the rpe.dot style sheet. You can find the rpe.dot style sheet in the Rational® Publishing Engine installation: %RPE_HOME%\utils\word\rpe.dot. The same process applies to tables of figures and tables of tables.

Captions in Microsoft Word documents

Figure and table captions are not automatically updated. To update the fields, use the Update Fields feature in Microsoft Word or use the macros contained in the rpe.dot style sheet. You can find the rpe.dot style sheet in the Rational Publishing Engine installation: %RPE_HOME%\utils\word\rpe.dot.

Include file element

The way that include file elements are handled depends on the output format.For Legacy PDF, HTML, and XSL-FO output, the included file is a hyperlink. For PDF output, the included file is imported and the full contents of the document display.

For Microsoft Word output, an INCLUDE TEXT field is generated. This means that the task of importing the file is delegated to Microsoft Word. An include file is not visible in the output document until all fields are updated. To update the fields, use the Update Fields feature in Word or use the macros contained in the rpe.dot style sheet. You can find the rpe.dot style sheet in the Rational Publishing Engine installation: %RPE_HOME%\utils\word\rpe.dot.
Note: A Microsoft Word document linking other files is not self-contained. Moving the document on other computers prevents you from visualizing the content of the linked documents. If visualization is needed, use the Break links feature, which is Alt+E+K in Microsoft Office 2007, from Microsoft Word to include the contents of a linked files.

Heading styles

To use the predefined heading styles for Microsoft Word (Heading 1, Heading 2, ... , Heading 9) and HTML (H1, H2, ... , 9), use the style name 1,2, to 9. PDF and XSL-FO output formats do not have heading styles; however, Rational Publishing Engine uses internally defined heading styles.

Formatting properties versus styles

Define styles instead of changing individual formatting properties for template elements.

Rational Publishing Engine styles versus external styles

If your main output is Microsoft Word or HTML, use external styles, which are defined in a style sheet, as much as possible. This approach allows you to quickly change the appearance of the output document and enforces a uniform look across the company.

Numbering headings for Microsoft Word

Use a style sheet with numbered headings to obtain headings numbered as a hierarchical list.

Unicode data in output

All Unicode data is rendered if the font that is used supports Unicode.
  • For PDF output, additional configuration is necessary. See the PDF output settings for details. If you used a non-Unicode font, generate the document again using True Type Unicode fonts and set the appropriate output properties.
  • For Microsoft Word output, if you used a non-Unicode font, change the font in the output document after document generation.
  • For HTML output, if you used a non-Unicode font, change the font family in the style sheet after document generation.

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