The award winning XML Editing solution for consistently higher-value, timely global content that creates loyal customers and efficient, compliant business processes.

XMetaL Author Enterprise 14.0 is an XML Editor that helps you get to market faster by bringing structure and automation to the process of content creation. Using XML standards such as the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA), XMetaL enables authors and contributors to collaborate effectively — and to repurpose higher-value information products into the myriad of languages and formats your customers demand.

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  • The "Workbench" allows you to create and maintain collections of folders and files called "WorkSets" for quick access while you are working in XMetaL. The context menu lets you easily work with these items, similar to the context menu in Windows Explorer.
  • XMetaL supports editing of Lightweight DITA XML topics and maps. In this preview-level support only XDITA files can be authored, but you can add MDITA and HDITA topics to LwDITA maps, and publish LwDITA maps via DITA OT version 3.2.1.
  • Many of the user settings and preferences dialogs have been combined into a single hierarchical dialog. The new dialog includes a search/filter box allowing you to quickly find any option setting. XMetaL customizers can add their own settings panels to this unified dialog.
  • The Find and Replace dialog includes an option to highlight all occurrences of a search term within the current document.
  • Tracked changes are now visible in DITA-reused content; this can be turned on/off via the Options dialog.
  • DITA-reused content that contains unaccepted tracked changes inside can be made visible within the target/reusing document's window.
  • Key spaces that you have associated with individual DITA topics can be remembered across sessions (via a setting in the Options dialog).
  • This version of XMetaL Author Enterprise includes DITA Open Toolkit Releases 3.2.1, 2.4.4, and 2.0. The default setting is for XMetaL to use DITA OT 3.2.1.

These installation notes cover the following XMetaL Author Enterprise installations:

Limited User vs. Local Admin accounts

All installations of XMetaL Author are pre-configured to operate in an environment where end-users are assumed have ‘Limited User’ account privileges. Programs running under such user accounts are normally restricted from writing to Program Files and similar folders along with writing to Windows HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT registry hives. XMetaL Author still has some features that require operating under a Local Admin user account in order to write to the Program Files folder. A prompt will appear warning the user of this restriction.

Features requiring Local Admin privileges

For all installations, features requiring Local Admin privileges (right-click and choose ‘Run as Administrator’) warn the user before proceeding or are disabled.

Here are the features that display a warning:

  • Tools > Select Specialized DITA DTD
  • DITA Configuration: Delete RLX Files macro
  • DITA Configuration: Turn OFF Pretty-Printing macro
  • DITA Configuration: Turn ON Pretty-Printing macro
  • DITA Configuration: Save Copy as Template macro

Regardless of account privileges, the following processes and features are disabled:

  • Drag-and-drop operations to Resource Manager Assets tab
  • Right-click menu does not show Assets tab operations
  • UI for assigning or reassigning shortcut key to an All Users macro

Alternatively, you can use these features by running XMetaL Author in Administrator mode. Follow these steps:

  1. Right-click on the XMetaL Author shortcut and choose ‘Run as Administrator’ (Vista) or ‘Run as’ (XP).
  2. Provide login account info of user with administrator privileges.
  3. Run operation requiring administrator privileges.

Note: The disabled features also require you to configure XMetaL Author for Local Admin privileges.

Note: Regardless of being qualified as limited-user or local-administrators, users MUST chose ‘Run as Administrator’ on Windows Vista operating systems. Under Windows operating systems prior to Vista (and its UAC feature), users qualified as a local-administrator are not required doing the ‘Run as’ option.

Configuring XMetaL Author for Local Admin privileges

XMetaL Author Enterprise is installed with the assumption that users have Limited User account privileges under Windows. If you need to set up DITA specializations for your end users, or if you want to enable features that are otherwise disabled for Limited Users you must set the following variable in the XMetaL Author configuration file (xmetal80.ini): user_setting_mode=default Local Admin users very familiar with the product may continue to work with XMetaL Author Enterprise in this mode, however, we recommend that it only be used to accomplish tasks that cannot be done otherwise and that the default setting be restored once these tasks are accomplished. The default setting is the "per-user" mode, which is set as follows: user_setting_mode=per_user

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