Oxygen XML Author

I recently had the opportunity to use Oxygen XML Author version 25.0 and was impressed with its capabilities. This software provides a platform for working with both XML and XML-related resources. What I particularly appreciated was the software's support of other languages such as JSON and YAML. Additionally, the capability to treat certain file types, such as Word, Excel, OpenAPI, HTML, Markdown and others, as DITA-compatible resources is extremely useful. The ability to reference and use these resources from DITA maps, similar to how XML DITA topics are referenced and used, is also noteworthy.

I found that the performance when working with DITA was particularly improved, particularly as large maps and topics were now opened more quickly by having content references and included content expanded on-demand. Additionally, the DITA map validation tool automatically validates topics that reference Relax NG schemas and recognizes if a related link points to a topic that is not included in the current map.

One area where I found great benefits was in DITA publishing which benefited from performance improvements. I particularly appreciated the ability to generate Google Structured Data in WebHelp output, as well as the capability of generating PDF/A-compliant PDFs in CSS-based PDF output.

The Git Client, Batch Documents Converter, and Terminology Checker add-ons have all been improved in this latest release, and there is even a new command-line script that can be used to validate files or directories. Additionally, the release includes new API entry points as well as various bug fixes and component updates.

Overall, I found Oxygen XML Author version 25.0 to be an impressive authoring tool that is definitely worth considering if you work with XML or XML-related resources, particularly if you work with DITA. The improvements in performance and publishing, as well as the support of other languages, make it a valuable software package to add to your toolkit.