Arbortext

I installed Arbortext Styler 8.3 on Windows 11 and the application launches correctly. However, when I double-click an XML file from Windows Explorer, Arbortext Editor opens automatically and the file fails to open due to a licensing issue. How can I configure Windows so that XML files open directly with Arbortext Styler when double-clicked in Windows Explorer?

Hi, I used to use Perl in APP-over-rides to output debugging information to a file like this:   formatting.evaluateShowString("\"junk\"$^[perl open(TMP, '>>c:/temp/debug.log'); print TMP 'specific-use: " + currentNode.getAttribute("specific-use") + "\n'; close(TMP);]"); This appears to no longer be working. But was pretty "hacky" anyways. Is there a cleaner way of outputting debugging information to a file or log somewhere? Thanks,Richard Steadman

We're currently using IsoDraw 7.3 and planning to upgrade to version 7.4. During internal testing, we discovered that 89 out of our 214 oldest files (originally created with IsoDraw version 5) cannot be opened in 7.4.3.The error message reads: “The file is written in an IsoDraw format that I cannot read. You may be able to open the file with a newer version of IsoDraw.”According to the official release notes, only files created with IsoDraw version 4 are no longer supported—version 5 is not mentioned.Has anyone experienced a similar issue or found a workaround to open or convert these files? Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

(First time poster, I apologize for any missteps in my post. 🙂 When opening my (inherited from someone who retired) ~800 page document in Arbortext Editor or in Arbortext Styler, I am receiving the following message exactly 4 times:    {A12535] Empty top level index term heading; entire index term will be ignored. I have searched my document for empty index terms and find none.  I have done a lot of checks of my index entries (not every one, but there are many thousands throughout and I do not know what I should be searching for).  I did look at all the entries in the prolog of the document, that are setting up id's for "index reference" tags in the body of the document to use, and removed all of those that were not in fact being referenced. There was also some info online that said maybe it might be an empty index header (like no entries that started with "Q", for example), but I created fake index entries for all the letters that had no entries, th

Hi all!I need to (as an author) set orientation of page manually depending on element. It is required so that I can have large images/tables on Landscape pages,I have created two page sets. One for Portrait and other for Landscape.I am currently using outputclass=landscape or Portrait to start new pages on elements like concept and Task. Now this works but in order to add these conditions to these elements, I have converted the elements from Unstyled (default) to Division 2-4. This causes an issue in my header which is supposed to display only header level 1 or division 2 using Division Reference. However, it displays the first task/concept element irrespective of the division level. Note that this issue only occurs for the unstyled elements that are now Division style. Either Concept/Task is not being converted/recognized correctly, or I converted them incorrectly or the system is broken.Any suggestions?How do you achieve this?

Hi Team,I tried adding a block border. It results in a border around the block, which is fine if the image is block-sized, however, if the image is scaled down, the border shows up on the entire block instead of the image. I understand that the 'block border' option will always do that. I wonder how we can achieve this without block border.I tried looking online and couldn't find anything, either no one uses borders and hence no questions are being asked (unlikely) or it's so simple that no one needs to. Thanks for reading. Help me if you know what I can do to fix this. 

I am using Arbortext 8.3.  Here is the simple function in question:replace("ʼ", "’", 0x2000);The user has a file that contains a mix of apostrophes.  We want a consistent character used.  The first apostrophe is the U+02BC : MODIFIER LETTER APOSTROPHE {apostrophe} and the second (the desired one) is U+2019 : RIGHT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK {single comma quotation mark.Using the following text, the last apostrophe is the one we want swapped.la Loi sur les traitements, aux ministres d’État qui sont à la tête d’un département dʼÉtatUsing the replace function above, if I run from the command line in Arbortext Editor it works perfectly. However, when I save that one line of code, as its own ApostropheSwap.acl file, and do a "source ApostropheSwap.acl", it does not find a match.  I have tried saving the .acl file as UTF-8 and ANSI, and both get the same result. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.Thanks

When profiling in the prolog for the Index, which element should be profiled: metadata, Keywords, or indexterm? When publishing to pdf, the profiling on the metadata seems to be ignored. Is that normal?       Bryon  

We're using ADL 12.3.   ADL currently does not support the import of graphics (tif) with 16- or 32-bit color depth.Customers provide us with graphics in 16 and 32 bitWe need to change the graphics to 8-bit, but this will result in a loss of quality.

PTC's sales website has zero mention of Arbortext Print Composer.  Does it still exist? Is it still available for purchase?

 Formatting & Output User Group - Jan 14thFormatting & Output User Group - Jan 14th-Presenters:  Christian Zimmerman/Simon Taylor/Chris Western-Topic: PTC/USER Formatting and Output TC WebinarTime: Jan 14, 2026 08:00 AM Central Time (US and Canada)Link to Register for the Zoom Meeting and get the recording:https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89267095120?pwd=qWSz0AgCsv4ybbUmXqcCj9KYM4hjgk.1Agenda:“Successfully implement sophisticated layout requirements from customers with Arbortext Styler” | Presenter: Erwin Mueller – DATACOPY - 1 hour"Addressing Complex Language Requirements Using APP Engine " | Presenter: Simon Taylor - PTC - 1 hour"Update on Coming Soon: NEW Print Services(Web Services)" | Presenter: Simon Taylor - PTC - 20 minutes“Arbortext ALD developer Ai help portal and Future Plans for more integrated use” | Presenter: Chris Western - tFormat 20-30 minutes.Next Meeting: May 6, 2026, Zoom Webinar     Go to Event

I am running Arbortext 8.2.2.1 and using it in conjunction with Windchill 13.0.2.9. We are trying to publish our manuals in PDF using the Arbortext Publishing engine (PE) with content stored in Windchill.When I try to change the default stylesheet to our local company stylesheet, I do not have the option to change it. Selecting File > Publish > PDF File opens up the Publish to PDF File window.  Under Publishing, there is only the (pe) Standard DITA 2.0 Styler Stylesheet available from the dropdown menu. Where, and how, do I import our company stylesheet so I can replace the (pe) Standard stylesheet.Working in a local (non-Windchill) environment, there is usually a Browse button beside the Stylesheet selection where I can select from many available stylesheets, but not when running through the Publishing Engine Server. John  

Arbortext Editor/Styler/Publishing Engine 8.3.2.0 has Released December 3, 2025 Key Highlights DITA Map Reviewer: Streamlined review workflow with DITA Map tree for validating structure and completeness. QuickTags Enhancements: Most Recently Used (MRU) tag list at cursor location. Multi-column QuickTags menu for faster tag discovery. Docked Panels: Modify Attributes panel for quick attribute edits. Insert Markup panel for easier tag insertion and learning. WTPart Attribute Support: Include WTPart attributes in published outputs. Support for translated attribute values in output. Customer-Requested Improvements: Save inline applicability strings. “Check out Revised Objects” option after revision. Automatic local cache cleanup preference. Setup & Configuration Updates: Streamlined PTC Server connection setup. Easier transaction archive collection. Improved font recognition. Updated CreoView (v12) and IsoView (v7.4.4). Show active burst rule in Session Panel Stylesheet Obje

We have an environmental variable that is linked for custom configuration files. We want the directory to be pointing to the top level rather than a specific file, but it is not working. Is there a solution? We have the folder sitting on a server, inside the apache-tomcat webapps folder. We have configured 2 environmental variables on users local machines:1) Works -> APTWCCFGFILE - http://ipaddress/custom/userprefs/userprefs.xml 2) Does NOT work -> APTCUSTOM - http://ipaddress/custom  (Please note that our custom folder DOES work when hosted locally). We would ideally like to have a custom.zip file on the server which all users can connect to using the APTCUSTOM variable. Any help would be appreciated, we have tried many methods.

My company is changing how we do manuals.  We are currently making them in Adobe InDesign and we are looking to go to Arbortext DITA2.0 utilizing a bookmap and ditafiles/images stored in folders in Windchill.But, I can never seem to get the images to work right in Arbortext.  The best that I can get is blue text that looks like a link, but not the actual image itself.Our manuals have repeated use of safety icons, and hundreds of images.Creating the manual outside of Windchill in a local environment works fine. I assume it is something I am overlooking. Thanks,John

I am looking at creating a toolbar button to remove the outputclass entry automatically. What should the command look like? I have tried mt -local outputclass='' but it show up like this if delete the quotes then it says unrecognized command.     Thanks   Bryon    

We currently use Isodraw and Illustrator for creating our 2D images for our manuals. Just curious what other programs users are using to create their graphics? We have not dived into the 3D world yet, but I expect it is coming.   Thanks,   Bryon

Greetings, Arbortext Community. Join us on December 10, 2025 for a live presentation + Q&A with the Arbortext Product Managers.If you have any questions in advance, please share them in this thread. Register for the virtual event here: https://www.ptc.com/en/events/arbortext-webinarArbortext Release Highlights: What’s New and NoteworthyJoin the Arbortext Product Management team on December 10th, 2025 for a 90-minute webinar as they walk through new features and enhancements in:Arbortext Editor, Styler, &  Publishing Engine 8.3.1.0 and 8.3.2.0Arbortext Layout Developer & Layout Editor 12.3.1.0 and 12.3.2.0Windchill Service Information & Service Parts 13.1.1.0 and 13.1.2.0Arbortext Content Delivery 7.2.1.1Speakers will include:Gil Shroitman- Director of Arbortext Product ManagementSimon Taylor- Arbortext Principal Product ManagerBrent Kelly- Arbortext Technical Product Management Fellow We look forward to seeing you there.  

When using the View spaces option in Arbortext Editor 8.3 (set showspaces=on) non-breaking spaces now are displayed as "degree" symbols.  This is cool as it becomes possible to easily distinguish between regular spaces and non-breaks.  In Arbortext 5.4, nbsp didnt show anything when showspaces=on. However, this is a big problem when the user is writing a document filled with coordinates and directions. It is impossible to tell which degree symbols are real, and which are nbsp. Is there a secret way to change the symbol shown for nbsp when the view spaces feature is used? Eg. 4 of the following degree signs, are actually spaces.  I wish a tilda was used , I think the degree symbol was a poor choice.  

Hi Arbortext Community,I'm trying to secure PDF documents with an appcf file using the security element, but I want the user to be able to comment on the PDF. The issue is that, somehow even setting noAnnots="no", I keep having the Comment Creation as Not Allowed in the PDF protection menu.Does someone know how to solve this? Here my appcf file XML:   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><!--Arbortext, Inc., 1988-2023, v.4002--><!DOCTYPE APPConfig PUBLIC "-//Arbortext//DTD APPConfig 1.0//EN" "appconfig/appconfig.dtd"><APPConfig version="1.0" xmlns="http://www.arbortext.com/namespace/APP/APPPrinterConfig"><Print><PageConfig bleedAreaBottom="4mm" bleedAreaLeft="4mm" bleedAreaRight="4mm" bleedAreaTop="4mm" bleedString="" cuttingGuideOffset="1mm" cuttingGuideSize="9mm" cuttingGuides="inherit" registrationMarks="inherit"/><PDFPrinter><OutputRange endPage="-1" startPage="1"/><PDFMode color="document" defaultLanguage="" f

Hello, I just wanted to ask regarding Arbortext layout editor. Is this a standalone software or does it work when you install Arbortext editor? Upon checking the software download tab I only see the Arbortext  editor and no Arbortext layout editor.  Thank you. 

Basically title.  I have a bunch of tables generated with a script and they are relatively small files. However, if I open them in arbortext and then save, they're all saved with attribute info and other abortext tags. This isn't ideal as it clutters the info and makes it hard to navigate line to line changes.  The attributes that get added are not weird, as in they exist in the dtd, however, I would like arbortext to not insert these. I'd also like to prevent it from adding <? ?> tags as they also interfere. Additionally, it likes to shift lines in the code based on some arbitrary number the user can set - width and that may differ between users. If i set it to a high number the code is still janky and any pretty print I apply externally gets tossed out the window. 

Hi, my company uses the block structure in certain Arbortext content. Recently, we migrated from Windchill 12 to 13 and lost this formatting/text when publishing.We are using Arbortext w/ Styler 8.2.3.0. Please let me know if you need additional information. Thanks for any help,Jeff  

After installing Arbortext on a new laptop, some things aren't working how they should and I don't know why. I have allowed the application toolbar and turned it on. The change markup dropdown isn't showing the other tags allowed at the point of insertion. I'm trying to change a table to a chart. When I put my cursor to the right of the table start tag, the change markup dropdown should show chart as an option but it's not there. The only option on the dropdown is table.  I don't remember doing anything on the old laptop to make this work, it just worked. Is there a setting that I'm missing? Thanks!Amy Hill

In many places inside my document, I have elements like "Section, Subsection, Paragraphs etc. that have a Label g.e. (a) and a Text content.  When the length of the Label differs from one element to the other, the right Text element gets misaligned.  I found out that the Side by side feature would let me produce the desired result.  But, setting those have no effect in the editor.  I don't need this feature for exporting, only inside the editor.  I have followed the steps from => https://support.ptc.com/help/arbortext/r8.3.0.0/en/index.html#page/styler/styler/help27579_3.html  and never was I able to get the result.    Here is a specific case with my settings.    A subparagraph have a Label and a Text.  Setting for my Label element (first on the left) : Element is inline (I don't want new lines.)Side by side setting of Label in that contextAnd below setting for the right element (Text) : I'll need some expert help