overriding styles defined on production server for DITA XML files

Question

Here is scenario I am working in. Using Eclipse with IXIASoft DITA CMS and Oxygen XML editor. Retrieve files stored in DITA CMS and edit in oxygen. Generate pdf output. PDF creation is controlled by antennae house libraries on a production server and I do not have access to xsl stylesheets or css files on production server.

I tried embedding styles in dita file, but it appears that files on production server override whatever I do. Tried linking to local css file, but it too seems to be overridden.

Also limited by what is allowed in the custom DTD. Did find an outputclass attribute for the p element, but not sure how to use it. Any suggestions.

Answer 1

The PDF output generated via the DITA Open Toolkit (used also by Ixiasoft) is not related in any way to CSS styling. The DITA content gets translated to an XSL-FO format which then gets processed to PDF using a PDF processor like the default Apache FOP. So you need access to the XSLT code on the server side in order to provide any PDF customization. Usually a PDF customization without directly modifying the XSLT code from the DITA OT is done like this:

http://www.oxygenxml.com/doc/ug-oxygen/#topics/dita_pdf_output_customization.html

Regards, Radu

Answer 2

If you cannot add a plugin to the DITA-OT image on the server, you're actually out of luck for changing the PDF output. If, however, you can create a plugin for the DITA-OT image used by Ixiasoft, and can run the ant integrator on that image, then you should be able to change those styles.

Keep in mind that overriding PDF is not for the faint of heart and if you have no experience with XSLT and XSL-FO, I suggest you get a consultant to help you.

Julio J. Vazquez

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