Setting attributes

The Attributes tool allows to edit the attributes of selected element. This tool is disabled (i.e. grayed) when some text or multiple nodes are selected.

The Attributes tool comprises two parts:

1. The upper part, a small form, which supports auto-completion and specialized attribute editors (specialized dialog boxes).
2. The lower part, a larger table, which displays all attributes. This table also allows the user to set attributes on the selected element.

The attributes table

The most basic way to specify the value of an attribute is to type it in the lower part, the attributes table. For example, let's suppose you are authoring a DocBook article. Specifying the audience attribute of the root article element consists in

• selecting the root element,
• clicking on the audience row,
• typing, for example "expert", in the Value cell,
• and finally pressing Enter to commit the change.

In some cases, for example the class attribute of article, the Value cell contains a drop-down list. In such case, suffice to select an item from this list.

If you want to remove an attribute, do not specify its value as the empty string. Instead, right-click on its row in the attributes table. Doing this pops up a menu allowing to perform various actions on the value of the attribute being clicked upon. Among these actions, you'll find Remove.

The attribute form

The upper part, the attribute form, is often used for its specialized attribute editors. For example, let's suppose you have inserted a figure in your document. You may want to give an ID to this figure:

• First select the figure,
• then click on the xml:id row in the attributes table,
• and finally click the Edit button.

Doing this pops down a menu, the very same menu which is displayed when you right-click on a row of the attributes table. This menu has an Edit item.

This Edit item always displays a specialized dialog box allowing to edit an attribute “more comfortably” than with the attribute form or the attribute table. In the case of the xml:id attribute, the specialized dialog box will show you all the existing IDs. This way you'll be able to type an ID which does not already exist.

The figure you have inserted contains an imagedata element. Its required fileref attribute allows to specify the graphic file which is the source of the image. In order to specify a value for the fileref attribute,

• first click on the image placeholder icon to select imagedata,
• then click on the fileref row in the attributes table
• and finally click the "Choose file" button.

Doing this displays a file chooser dialog box (or an URL chooser dialog box, if you have checked File→Use the URL Chooser).

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Quickly adding an attribute