Multiple part numbers in a table for multiple versions of a manual

[bfriesen]

Good afternoon, we have a dilemma that we are trying to solve. We create multiple variations of parts books that need different part numbers for the same part.  Currently we manually add all the versions and profile accordingly. I would like to automate it if possible.

Example below

Book 1 has part 123

Book 2 has part 123, but needs it to show up a A12

Book 3 has part 123, but needs it to show up a X2A

Is there a way to retrieve the correct number when building the publish?

Thanks

Bryon

[ClayHelberg · Accepted solution]

Hi Bryon--

This is what the DITA keydef/keyref mechanism is for. You can have your main content with key references, where the part references use IDs (keys) that look up part number strings in a different file (the key definitions). So you would have one key definition file for each variation, and then swap them out (i.e. have a bookmap for each configuration that imports the correct keydef file) to produce the correct result.

See the help center for more info on key references: https://support.ptc.com/help/arbortext/r8.1.2.0/en/#page/editor%2Feditor_help%2Fhelp17173.html

--Clay

[bfriesen]

Thanks Clay, we tried using keydefs early in our Arbortext adventure and found that we had issues with translation, so we stopped using them. This might be a good place for them because there are no words.

Bryon

[bfriesen]

Thanks for the help Clay. We have a working sample, and I am now thinking about expanding the scope. Is it possible to do the same thing for the parts description? Can you have multiple keydef maps in a ditamap? We currently have the part number in one column and the description beside it in another column..

Bryon 

[ClayHelberg]

Yes, you can have more than one keydef file in your map, you just need to make sure the IDs are unique. You should be able to set it up to work for descriptions as well as for part numbers. (Though you may run into the same localization issues you had the first time you tried using keyrefs, if you need these descriptions to be localized. It's hard to say without knowing more about what problems you faced initially with translation.)