Ant Properties for DITA-OT

Reference list of DITA-specific Ant properties.

DITA-OT processes your documentation project as an Ant project, which allows several Ant build properties specific to DITA-OT and your project. These properties can be divided into three categories:

The following tables describes the first group of properties, those specific to your documentation project. The tables also indicate the Java command line option corresponding to the property, if available. Each table describes the properties for one of the following transformation types:
  • PDF
  • XHTML
  • HTMLHelp
  • WordRTF
  • troff
  • docbook
  • JavaHelp
  • eclipsehelp
  • ODT (Open Document format)

Parameters available to all transforms

The following common parameters are available for use by all DITA-OT builds.

Table 1. Common DITA-OT parameters
Project Ant Property Java Option Description
args.debug /debug Specifies that DITA-OT print debugging information for your project. Allowed values are "yes" and "no". Default value is "no".
args.draft /draft Indicates whether draft-comment and required-cleanup elements are included in the generated file. Corresponds to XSLT parameter DRAFT in most XSLT modules. Allowed values are "yes" and "no". Default value is "no". If ${publish.required.cleanup} is not set, ${args.draft} will be used.
Tip: The ${publish.required.cleanup} property is a legacy property that applies only to PDF transformations. The args.draft parameter should be used instead.
Tip: For PDF output, setting ${args.draft} to "yes" will also cause the contents of <titlealts> to appear below the title.
args.figurelink.style NA Specifies how cross references to figures are styled. Allowed values are "NUMBER" and "TITLE". NUMBER results in "Figure 5", TITLE results in the title of the figure. Corresponds to the XSLT parameter FIGURELINK.
Note: This parameter is available for all except the PDF transform.
args.grammar.cache /grammarcache Specifies whether to use the grammar caching feature of the XML parser. Allowed values are "yes" and "no". Default value is "yes".
Note: For most users, this is an important option that dramatically speeds up processing time. However, there is a known problem with using this feature for documents that use XML Entities. If your build fails with parser errors about entity resolution, try setting this parameter to "no".
args.input /i Typically defines the location of the .ditamap file for your documentation project. However, the property can be set to a .dita file, as well. DITA-OT reads this file to find the .dita files that comprise the content for the documentation project.
args.logdir /logdir Defines the location where DITA-OT places log files for your project.
args.outext /outext Specifies the file extension for HTML files in your project's output. Corresponds to XHTML parameter OUTEXT. Default values is ".html".
args.tablelink.style NA Specifies how cross references to tables are styled. Allowed values are "NUMBER" or "TITLE". The default is "NUMBER", which produces results such as "Table 5". TITLE results in the title of the table. Corresponds to the XSLT parameter TABLELINK.
Note: This parameter is available for all except the PDF transform.
basedir /basedir The directory where your project's ant build script resides. The DITA-OT will look for your .dita files relative to this directory. DITA-OT's default build script sets this as an attribute of the project, but you can also define it as a project property.
dita.ext NA Specifies an extension to use for DITA topics; All DITA topics will use this single extension in the temp directory. Corresponds to XSLT parameter DITAEXT. Default value is ".xml"
dita.input.valfile /filter Defines the location of your project's filter file. Filter files end with the .ditaval suffix and are used to filter, include and exclude, content in the generated document. Alternatively, you can create multiple versions of your document by creating a different .ditamap file for each version.
output.dir /outdir The location of the directory to hold output from your documentation project.
transtype /transtype Defines the output type for a specific Ant target. Plug-ins may add new values for this option; by default, the following values are available:
  • PDF
  • xhtml
  • htmlhelp
  • eclipsehelp
  • eclipsecontent
  • odt
  • troff
  • rtf
  • javahelp
  • legacypdf
  • docbook
validate /validate Specifies whether DITA-OT should validate your content files. Allowed values are "yes" and "no". Default value is "yes".

Parameters available for all XHTML based transforms

The following parameters are available for all output types that are based on the XHTML transform type, including:
  • XHTML
  • HTMLHelp
  • JavaHelp
  • eclipsehelp
Table 2. XHTML and related parameters
Project Ant Property Java Option Description
args.artlbl /artlbl Adds a label to each image containing the image's filename. Allowed values are "yes" and "no". Default is "no".
args.breadcrumbs NA Specifies whether to generate breadcrumb links. Corresponds to the XSLT parameter BREADCRUMBS. Allowed values are "yes" and "no". Default is "no".
args.copycss /copycss Indicates whether you want to copy your own .css file to the output directory.
args.css args.css The name of your custom .css file.
args.csspath /csspath The location of your copied .css file relative to the output directory. Corresponds to XSLT parameter CSSPATH.
args.cssroot /cssroot The directory that contains your custom .css file. DITA-OT will copy the file from this location.
args.ftr /ftr Specifies the location of a well-formed XML file containing your custom running-footer for the document body. Corresponds to XSLT parameter FTR.
Note: The fragment must be valid XML, with a single root element, common practice is to place all content into <div>.
args.gen.default.meta NA Specifies whether to generate extra metadata that targets parental control scanners, meta elements with name="security" and name="Robots". Allowed values are "yes" and "no". Default value is "no". Corresponds to the XSLT parameter genDefMeta.
args.gen.task.lbl /usetasklabels Specifies whether to generate locale-based default headings for sections within task topics. Allowed values are "YES" and "NO". Default is "NO". Corresponds to the XSLT parameter GENERATE-TASK-LABELS. This parameter is also available for the PDF transform.
args.hdf /hdf Specifies the location of a well-formed XML file to be placed in the document head.
args.hdr /hdr Specifies the location of a well-formed XML file containing your custom running-header for the document body. Corresponds to XSLT parameter HDR.
Note: The fragment must be valid XML, with a single root element, common practice is to place all content into <div>.
args.hide.parent.link NA Specifies whether to hide links to parent topics in the rendered XHTML. Corresponds to the XSLT parameter NOPARENTLINK. Allowed values are "yes" and "no". Default is "no".
args.indexshow /indexshow Indicates whether indexterm element should appear in the output. Allowed values are "yes" and "no". Default is "no".
args.xhtml.toc.class NA String for a CSS class name attribute applied to the TOC (x)HTML output's <body> element. Found in map2htmltoc.xsl.
args.xhtml.classattr /xhtmlclass Specifies whether to include DITA class ancestry inside generated XHTML elements. Allowed values are "no" and "yes"; the default is "yes" in release 1.5.2 (it was "no" in 1.5 and 1.5.1). For example, the prereq element in a task (which is specialized from section) would generate "class="section prereq". Corresponds to the XSLT parameter PRESERVE-DITA-CLASS.
args.xsl /xsl Specifies an XSL file that is used rather than the default XSL transform, located in toolkitdir\xsl\dita2xhtml.xsl. Property must specify the full path and XSL file name.
generate.copy.outer /generateouter Specifies whether to generate files for content files that are not located in or beneath the directory containing your ditmap file.
onlytopic.in.map /onlytopicinmap Specifies whether files that are linked to, or referenced with a conref attribute, should generate output. If set to "yes", only files that are referenced directly from the map will generate output files.
outer.control /outercontrol Specifies whether content files are located in or below the directory containing your .ditamap file. The default value is "no." The gen-list-without-flagging Ant task generates a harmless warning for content outside the map directory; you can suppress these warnings by setting the outer.control property to "true".
Warning: Microsoft HTML Help Compiler cannot produce HTMLHelp for documentation projects that use outer content. Your content files must reside in or below the directory containing the .ditamap file, and the map file cannot specify ".." at the start of href attributes for topicref elements.

PDF-specific Ant Properties

The following table describes Ant properties that are specific to the PDF transformation type.

Table 3. PDF parameters
Project Ant Property Java Option Description
args.fo.include.rellinks /foincluderellinks Specifies which links to include in the PDF file. Values are:
  • "none" (the default) - no links are included.
  • "all" - all links are included.
  • "nofamily" - hard coded links and reltable-based links are included. Parent, child, next, and previous links are not included.
args.fo.output.rel.links /fooutputrellinks
Note: This parameter is deprecated in favor of ${args.fo.include.rellinks}.
Specifies whether to show links in your project's output. Values are "yes" (include all links) and "no" (the default, include no links). If ${args.fo.include.rellinks} is specified, this parameter is ignored.
args.gen.task.lbl /usetasklabels Specifies whether to generate locale-based default headings for sections within task topics. Allowed values are "yes" and "no". Default is "no". Corresponds to the XSLT parameter GENERATE-TASK-LABELS. This parameter is also available for the XHTML based transforms.
args.xsl.pdf /xslpdf Specifies an XSL file that is used in place of the default XSL transform at toolkitdir\demo\fo\xsl\fo\topic2fo_shell.xsl. You must specify the full path and XSL file name.
retain.topic.fo /retaintopicfo Specifies whether to leave the generated FO file for a PDF project.

ODT-specific Ant Properties

The ODT transform, which produces a document using the Open Document Format, is available in the 1.5.2 version of the DITA-OT.

Table 4. ODT related parameters
Project Ant Property Java Option Description
args.odt.img.embed /odtimgembed Determines whether images are embedded as binary objects within the ODT file.
args.odt.include.rellinks /odtincluderellinks Specifies which links to include in the ODT file. Values are:
  • "none" (the default) - no links are included.
  • "all" - all links are included.
  • "nofamily" - hard coded links and reltable-based links are included. Parent, child, next, and previous links are not included.

EclipseContent-specific Ant Properties

The "eclipsecontent" transform type produces normalized DITA files, along with Eclipse TOC and project files.

Table 5. EclipseContent properties
Project Ant Property Java Option Description
args.eclipsecontent.toc /eclipsecontenttoc Specifies the name of the TOC file for an Eclipse Content project.

XHTML-specific Ant Properties

Parameters in this section are used by the "xhtml" transtype, but not by other XHTML based transforms.

Table 6. Properties for the "xhtml" transform type
Project Ant Property Java Option Description
args.xhtml.contenttarget NA Specifies the content frame name where links from TOC are opened.
args.xhtml.toc /xhtmltoc Specifies the name of the entry point for an XHTML project. The default value is index.html

EclipseHelp-specific Ant Properties

The following table describes Ant properties that are specific to the EclipseHelp transformation type, which is an XHTML based output for use with the Eclipse Help System.

Project Ant Property Java Option Description
args.eclipsehelp.toc /eclipsehelptoc Specifies the name of the TOC file.
args.eclipse.country NA Specifies the more specific region for the language specified with args.eclipse.language For example, US, CA and GB would clarify a value of "en" for args.eclipse.language. The content will be moved into the appropriate directory structure for an Eclipse fragment.
args.eclipse.language NA Specifies the base language for translated content, such as "en" for English. This parameter is a prerequisite for args.eclipse.country. The content will be moved into the appropriate directory structure for an Eclipse fragment.
args.eclipse.provider /provider Specifies the name of the person or organization providing an Eclipse Help project. The default value is DITA.
Tip: The toolkit ignores the value of this property when processing an Eclipse Collection Map, eclipse.dtd.
args.eclipse.version /version Specifies the version number to include in the output. Default value is 0.0.0.
Tip: The toolkit ignores the value of this property when processing an Eclipse Collection Map, eclipse.dtd.
args.eclipse.symbolic.name NA Specifies the symbolic name (aka plugin ID) in the output for an Eclipse Help project. The @id value from the DITA map or the Eclipse map collection (Eclipse help specialization) is the symbolic name for the plugin in Eclipse. By default, the value org.sample.help.doc.
Tip: The toolkit ignores the value of this property when processing an Eclipse Collection Map, eclipse.dtd.

HtmlHelp-specific Ant Properties

The following table describes Ant properties that are specific to the HTML Help compiled help transformation target.

Project Ant Property Java Option Description
args.htmlhelp.includefile /htmlhelpincludefile Specifies the name of a file that you want included in an HTMLHelp project.

JavaHelp-specific Ant Properties

The following table describes Ant properties that are specific to the JavaHelp transformation target.

Project Ant Property Java Option Description
args.javahelp.map /javahelpmap Specifies the name of the ditamap file for a JavaHelp project.
args.javahelp.toc /javahelptoc Specifies the name of the file containing the TOC in your JavaHelp output. The default value is the name of the ditamap file for your project.

Other Toolkit Ant Properties

The following table describes additional Ant properties specific to the DITA Open Toolkit that you may override. You should not override a DITA-OT Ant property if it does not appear in this table or one of the tables above.

DITA Ant Property Java Option Description
args.dita.locale /ditalocale Specifies the language locale file to use for sorting index entries. The JavaHelp transformation type also uses this parameter.
clean.temp /cleantemp Specifies whether DITA-OT should delete the files in the temporary directory, dita.temp.dir, when it finishes a build. Allowed values are "yes" and "no". Default value is "yes".
dita.dir /ditadir The location of your DITA-OT installation. Also referred to as toolkit_dir in the sample ant scripts. Verify that your project's build script points to the correct location.
dita.extname /ditaext Deprecated. Defines the file extension for content files in the directory specified with the dita.temp.dir property. Allowed values are ".xml" and ".dita"; Default is ".xml".
dita.preprocess.reloadstylesheet NA Instructs the toolkit to reload the XSL stylesheets used for transformation. Default value is false.
Tip: Set the value to true if you want to use more than one set of stylesheets to process a group of topics. The parameter is also useful for writers of toolkit build scripts who experience Java memory problems during transformation due to large Ant projects. Alternatively, you can adjust the size of your Java memory heap if setting dita.preprocess.reloadstylesheet for this reason.
dita.temp.dir /tempdir Defines the directory where DITA-OT will create a temporary directory to place temporary files generated during the transformation process.