Work with attributes – Adobe InDesign CS3 User Manual
Page 540
INDESIGN CS3
User Guide
533
Insert a new parent element quickly by selecting Add Tag in the Tags panel and then clicking a tag in the panel. You
can also right-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) an element you selected in the Structure pane, choose
New Parent Element, and then choose an element.
Work with attributes
An attribute provides additional information about an XML element. Each attribute consists of a name and a value.
Attributes appear in the Structure pane; they are not placed in the document or used as content in the document.
Include attributes with elements for the benefit of files and applications that will use the XML files you create in
InDesign.
When you tag an image, InDesign automatically creates an href attribute with a value that defines the on-disk
location of the image file. This href attribute allows other files and applications to locate the image on disk so it can
be displayed.
An attribute includes a name (href, in this case) and a value.
You can add attributes to any element except the DOCTYPE element (a DTD file), comments, and processing
instructions. For example, to include keywords for searching in a downstream application, you can create an attribute
called keywords. You could also create attributes to indicate substituted text, track article titles, and record other
content-related information.
If you are using a DTD file, view its contents to see which attributes it allows. Attribute names, like tag names, must
conform to the DTD.
Note: InDesign recognizes special namespace attributes that can specify paragraph or character styles, tables and table
cell styles, as well as control whitespace. For more information, see the XML technical reference and other resources at
.
Add an attribute
1
Select an element.
2
Do one of the following:
•
Click the Add An Attribute button
.
•
Choose New Attribute on the Structure pane menu.
•
Right-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) the selected element and choose New Attribute.
3
Specify a name and a value for the attribute, and then click OK.
Show or hide attributes in the Structure pane
❖
Choose Show Attributes or Hide Attributes from the Structure pane menu.