Problems with XIncludes

[ptc-953926]

Adepters:

We're using AE 5.4 M100 in a system that uses XIncludes extensively in elements similar to topic maps with nested topics (but NOT DITA). If I ensure that the document referenced by an XInclude is writable (that is, I look at the status with Windows Explorer and verify that it is not read-only), and then open the parent container element that is not writable, I'm having limited success. Of 5 machines I've tested on (3 XP and 2 W7) only one of the XP machines allows me to edit the referenced XInclude element. In all of the other cases, AE says that the XIncluded content is read-only. In fact, I have two of the XP machines set up side-by-side with identical environments, and one allows me to edit the XIncluded content and the other does not. The only way I can edit the XIncluded content consistently is if I also make the parent or container document writable. This is not desirable.

So, this one has me stumped. It reminds me of a problem we had years ago when we used file entities for referenced content. When expanded inline, those were not writable, but if opened in the file entity in a new window from the master document, they were writable. Unfortunately, I don't see any way to open XIncluded content in a separate window (as I've discovered other XML editors do allow, e.g., Oxygen).

Can anyone shed any light on this issue?

Thanks,
Dave Hintz
Siemens

[ptc-953926]

From the lack of responses, I'm assuming few (if any) of you are using XIncludes. I'll open a PTC call unless I hear that this is working "as designed."

Dave

[JeffStevenson]

Hi Dave,

I haven't done a ton with xincludes in Editor, but from what I have done, I haven't edited included XML from within the referencing document. I have normally seen Editor disallow editing of the included chunks.

From a workflow perspective, wouldn't it be better for authors to edit the individual chunks rather than edit them all together within the reference doc?

The potential problem that could occur is authors may edit the included chunks for the context that they are in. This might hurt resuseability of the chunks if they become too congruous with the other includes around them.

Sorry if that wasn't much help.