DITA Open Toolkit "Deployment" in XMetaL Author Enterprise 5.5 thru 8.0

[Derek Read]

Symptom:
If you make changes to the XSLT/XSL-FO/configs in the DITA Open Toolkit installed with the 5.5 and later releases of XMetaL Author Enterprise they may not take effect when you generate output.

Cause:
In order to support Windows Vista, Windows 7 and limited users on XP, the DITA OT that we install is actually copied to a per-user location before generating output for the first time.

Solution:
Strategies for dealing with this are covered within another thread:
http://forums.xmetal.com/index.php?topic=224.msg687#msg687

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[Derek Read]

Suggested Steps for DITA OT Developers:

To modify and test the DITA OT that we install basic steps are as follows:
 1) Make changes to installed copy in C:Program FilesCommon FilesXMetaL SharedDITA_OT
 2) Redeploy the DITA OT to the user's per-user folder (%appdata%) *
 3) Generate output using the XMetaL Author UI (this runs the deployed copy).

* This set of slides might give more insight: http://www.slideshare.net/XMetaL/dita-open-toolkit-deployment-with-xmetal-author-enterprise-6

* Basic steps for redeploying the DITA OT are to do one of these things:

A) Delete the folder %appdata%SoftQuadXMetaL SharedDITA_OT

Note that most end users cannot see their %appdata% folder (it is hidden by default). So, most people should use the following procedure (B) instead.

B) Use the XMetaL UI to force redeployment (essentially this does the same as A above):
 1. Launch XMetaL Author Enterprise.
 2. Select Tools > Configure Output to open the Configure Output Options dialog.
 3. On the Advanced tab find this parameter and increase the value (in this example from 1 to 2):
   cmd_dita_ot_per_user_version = 1
 4. Click OK to dismiss the Configure Output Options dialog.
 5. Either generate output or select Tools > Configure Output again.
 6. When asked if you would like to upgrade the DITA-OT version select OK.
     The DITA OT will be re-deployed from the installed version
     (%Program Files%Common FilesXMetaL Shared) overwriting any existing
     copy in %appdata%SoftQuadXMetaL Shared

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[Derek Read]

Starting with XMetaL Author Enterprise 9 the DITA OT is both installed and run from the following location by default: %programdata%SoftQuadXMetaLSharedDITA_OT

On most installations of Windows 7 and 8 that will typically be here: C:ProgramDataSoftQuadXMetaLSharedDITA_OT

Note that though you should have full read/write access to the %programdata% folder it is a hidden folder in most Windows installations.

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