Arbortext

Hello, I am trying to learn Arbortext Editor, and I am trying to follow the "Get Started with Arbortext Editor" playlist. My company uses an older version (5.4), and I can't find the Arbortext XML DocBook V4.0 sample. I go to File > New and "docbook" isnt there. I can check "sample" when I highlight "free-from XML", but that file isnt the same as the one in the tutorial.  I have scoured my computer files, and I have opened every .sgm file, and I can't find it. Is there any way to get this file, or am I out of luck?

I am using Arbortext to create the manuals for the items we produce.  We currently have four major brands we use, each with it's own brand color (blue/gray/green/red) background.Is there a way in the stylesheet to use a certain element in the bookmap to select the background color.I was thinking maybe a variable or something along that line, Has anyone developed a stylesheet that will produce multiple outputs, with different background colors, depending on the brand of the material?

When I try to have the stylesheet auto number the figure and tables, everything works fine....EXCEPT....the generated table number text is putting an additional period after the Table X.X  (See Published Output image below).   Looking into the generated text for Title in Table element (see below), it shows 1.1 as generated text for the PDF output. Looking further into the Number Details, it shows that it should only be producing Table X.X for a table title. (see below) But yet, somehow it is producing Table X.X.  Where is this extra period coming from?  Anyone have any idea? Thanks,John 

Hello, I've got multiple users who get pushed the Java installs to their local devices JRE 8 ver 481 and everytime there's a push install the software fails to run which prompts with a error listed in the screenshot below.  The only way i've been able to resolve is to do a complete uninstall and reinstall.  The environment variables have been set but something with the Java install is overriding and I'm not sure what else to define in order to get the software back up and running.   If there's a permanent solution for future Java updates that won't break the environment I'm curious as to how to configure that for Windows 11 device.   Thanks so much!

Hello,computer is wire connected to a LAN without full internet access, only some streams are opened (email, microsoft 365 streams but not any any streams)node locked license on local hard driveonce the file is opened, user can work correctly, no latenciesmy question: is isodraw attempting to reach a ptc server when it detects a network connection?it's not an antivirus issue regarding file extensions, we are able to open quickly *.iso *.cgm *.idr with a text editor.before analysing network streams out going from computer do you have any clues?same behaviour for all isodraw computers of network.i would appreciate some ideas to diagnosethanks.SB

I am trying to publish TM that is around 8000 page. We can publish each chapter separately but when we combined into whole TM, we get this error .  PTC Arbortext Editor (Build 8.1.3.1-2) terminated unexpectedly at Fri Feb  6 15:21:47 2026: [A17120] Assertion failed: size < TXF_MARK, file D:\jenkins\workspace\Adept_1\adept\src\pub\pub\edit\src\stortxt.cpp, line 534 Current ACL statement at "C:\progra~1\PTC\arbort~1\packages\main\_grhook.acl":264:  264 [1]   return path ACL function traceback at time of error:#1   layout::format(doc=31, sourcedoc=31, sstype="", force=1) at "C:\progra~1\PTC\arbort~1\packages\main\_grhook.acl":264#2   comp_pdf::pdf_postprocessing(doc=31, params=inParams[], interactive=1)#3   compose::compose_for_type_int(doc=31, comp_type="pdf", interactive=1, inParams=inParams[], preprocessing_function="comp_pdf::pdf_preprocessing", dialog_function="comp_pdf::dialog_for_pdf", param_fixup_functio

Software: Arbortext Editor 5.4 M080 Hello everyone, My colleague's computer crashed when Arbortext Editor was running, and ever since the error A12480 has been thrown whenever trying to open the application.  The application has been reinstalled, repaired and the computer has been fully reset and the application has been re-installed after, but still the error message is thrown. The user uses the same concurrent license server as other users are using, but they experience no issues at all. Thanks in advance for any advice what may be the culprit.  

Software: Arbortext Editor 5.4 M080 Hello I'm receiving the error as defined in the subject field a couple of times each month. Has anyone had the same issue and if so, how did you resolve it? I am currently unable to upgrade to newer version, so hopefully it's possible to resolve without having to do so.

I am trying to convert the Insert and Delete Pub Tags that are used by Arbortext to indicate differences, into elements that are part of our DTD.   It would be convenient if I could either tell Arbortext to use our elements for the Diffs, OR even if I could use elements instead of the Pub tags.  The actual tagging looks like this in notepad:<?Pub Tag Delete?>texte<?Pub /Delete?>I am find it hard to find and transform these to real elements. Also, in the Arbortext help I see this line:" Compare tab provides a choice between either wrapper tags or PIs (processing instructions named Insert and Delete) to mark the differences in content as insertions and deletions. " However, I dont see anything like that on the screen.  Where can I make this "choice"?   

Hello,We have some problems trying to convert .cgm files to .emf format with Isodraw v7.1 M090Actually we work with a floating license from different computers. The problem ocurs when we export the same input file from two different computers:-The result from one of them is correct-The result from the other computer is not correct because it adds some blank space on the right side and also on the lower side.We assume that there is some kind of different configuration in both computers but we cannot locate it after many searches...Is there any configuration parameter that we can review so all our computers get the same result? or is it possible to send you an image so you can see the the difference?Thank you for your help.

I am using ALD v12.3.0 and trying to export png of an frame contains an image and its caption. I have tried various settings and the text in the png seems in good quality but the image (pdf/tiff) is not in good quality. It looks like a screen view. How can I fix it?

Our style sheet was modified with a custom element for our covers. The custom element supports one image element. Where do I change it so It can accept two images, as I would like to profile them.   Thanks   Bryon

I am trying to put in foldout pages in owners manuals.  However, I cannot for the life of me get the stylesheet/publishing engine to create the landscape page. I have created a Foldout Page set to 8.5 x 11 landscape in Page Sets.I created a context and condition in the <topicref> element. The condition is "IF attribute "outputclass" = "wide"The output to edit is set to Print/PDF, and the breaks category is set as follows:Start new: PagePage set Name: Foldout Page SetPage Number: Continue When I save the stylesheet and republish, the page is still not landscape.  GRRR On a side note, I am publishing locally with the Use Publishing Engine box unchecked in the Tools>Preferences>Publishing Engine. Any ideas what I may be missing. Thanks in advance.John 

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