Reply To: Adding multiple topic references to a map

[Derek Read]

The product does not have this feature. We're looking at adding something like this for the next release and hopefully that will be done. In the meantime you might try this if you really need something: http://forums.xmetal.com/index.php/topic,1366.0.html

If your map is open in Tags On or Normal view you can already drag and drop topics from Windows Explorer into the map to add a reference and you may find that easier. Dropping multiple topics at the same time will result in the inserted elements being nested within each other though. That's not too hard to fix in Tags On view using a little bit more drag and drop. Plus, it can be difficult to get the order correct (this will vary depending on your Windows version and the order you select the files in) — so it might be quicker to drag in one file at a time (still faster than doing it through the Insert > Topicref dialog for me).

Other related drag and drop capabilities specific to DITA authoring:
– If you are using a CMS system then it may also support similar functionality (depends on the CMS integration).
– You can open an XML document by dropping it onto the XMetaL application title bar.
– You can drag and drop files into topics to make references to them (other topic and image files for example) though you'll want to check afterwards to see that the attributes are set the way you need them to be in this case (when you go through the dialog XMetaL has some context so it can set all the attributes correctly). Keep in mind that most DITA “best practices” people recommend not linking between topics however (and recommend using related links instead) so this is perhaps more useful for images.

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