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FO Processors Preferences

Oxygen XML Author includes a built-in formatting objects processor (Apache FOP), but you can also configure other external processors and use them in the transformation scenarios for processing XSL-FO documents.

Oxygen XML Author provides an easy way to add two of the most commonly used commercial FO processors: RenderX XEP and Antenna House Formatter. You can easily add RenderX XEP as an external FO processor if you have the XEP installed. Also, if you have the Antenna House Formatter, Oxygen XML Author uses the environment variables set by the XSL formatter installation to detect and use it for XSL-FO transformations. If the environment variables are not set for the XSL formatter installation, you can browse and choose the executable file just as you would for XEP. You can use these two external FO processors for DITA-OT transformations scenarios and XML with XSLT transformation scenarios.

To configure the options for the FO processors, open the Preferences dialog box (Options > Preferences) and go to XML > PDF Output > FO Processors. This preferences page includes the following options:

Apache FOP Section

In this section, you can configure options for the built-in Apache processor. The following options are available:

Use built-in Apache FOP
Instructs Oxygen XML Author to use the built-in Apache FO processor. To see the version of the built-in XSL-FO processor for your installation, go to Help > About > Libraries and search for Apache FOP.
Use other Apache FOP
Instructs Oxygen XML Author to use another Apache FO processor that is installed on your computer. You can specify the path by using the text field, the Insert Editor Variables button, or the Browse button.
Enable the output of the built-in FOP
All Apache FOP output is displayed in a results pane at the bottom of the Oxygen XML Author window, including warning messages about FO instructions not supported by Apache FOP.
Memory available to the Apache FOP
If your Apache FOP transformations fail with an Out of Memory error (OutOfMemoryError), use this combo box to select a larger value for the amount of memory reserved for Apache FOP transformations.
Configuration file for the built-in FOP
Use this option to specify the path to an Apache FOP configuration file (for example, to render to PDF a document containing Unicode content using a special true type font). You can specify the path by using the text field, the Insert Editor Variables button, or the Browse button.
Generates PDF/A-1b output
When selected, PDF/A-1b output is generated.
Notes:
  • All fonts have to be embedded, even the implicit ones. More information about configuring metrics files for the embedded fonts can be found in Add a font to the built-in FOP.
  • You cannot use the <filterList> key in the configuration file since the FOP would generate the following error: The Filter key is prohibited when PDF/A-1 is active.

External FO Processors Section

In this section, you can manage the external FO processors you want to use in transformation scenarios. You can use the two options at the bottom of the section to use the RenderX XEP or Antenna House Formatter commercial FO processors.
Add 'XEP' FO processor (executable file is needed)
If RenderX XEP is already installed on your computer, you can use this button to choose the XEP executable script (xep.bat for Windows, xep for Linux).
Add 'Antenna House' FO processor (executable file is needed)
If Antenna House Formatter is already installed on your computer, you can use this button to choose the Antenna House executable script (AHFCmd.exe or XSLCmd.exe for Windows, and run.sh for Linux/macOS).
Note: The built-in Antenna House Formatter GUI transformation scenario requires that you configure an external FO processor that runs AHFormatter.exe (Windows only). In the external FO Processor configuration dialog box, you could use "${env(AHF63_64_HOME)}\AHFormatter.exe" -d ${fo} -s for the value in the Command line field, although the environment variable name changes for each version of the AH Formatter and for each system architecture (you can install multiple versions side-by-side). For more information, see https://github.com/AntennaHouse/focheck/wiki/focheck.
You can also add external processors or configure existing ones. Click the New button to open a configuration dialog box that allows you to add a new external FO processor. Use the other buttons (Edit, Duplicate, Delete, Up, Down) to configure existing external processors.
Figure 1. External FO Processor Configuration Dialog Box

The external FO Processor configuration dialog box includes the following options:
Name
The name that will be displayed in the list of available FO processors on the FOP tab of the transformation scenario dialog box.
Description
A textual description of the FO processor that will be displayed in the FO processors table and in tooltips of UI components where the processor is selected.
Working directory
The directory where the intermediate and final results of the processing are stored. You can specify the path by using the text field, the Insert Editor Variables button, or the Browse button. You can use one of the following editor variables:
  • ${homeDir} - The path to the user home directory.
  • ${cfd} - The path of the current file directory. If the current file is not a local file, the target is the user desktop directory.
  • ${pd} - The project directory.
  • ${oxygenInstallDir} -The Oxygen XML Author installation directory.
Command line
The command line that starts the FO processor, specific to each processor. You can specify the path by using the text field, the Insert Editor Variables button, or the Browse button. You can use one of the following editor variables:
  • ${method} - The FOP transformation method: pdf, ps, or txt.
  • ${fo} - The input FO file.
  • ${out} - The output file.
  • ${pd} - The project directory.
  • ${frameworksDir} - The path of the frameworks subdirectory of the Oxygen XML Author installation directory.
  • ${oxygenInstallDir} - The Oxygen XML Author installation directory.
  • ${ps} - The platform-specific path separator. It is used between the library files specified in the class path of the command line.
Output Encoding
The encoding of the FO processor output stream that is displayed in a Results panel at the bottom of the Oxygen XML Author window.
Error Encoding
The encoding of the FO processor error stream that is displayed in a Results panel at the bottom of the Oxygen XML Author window.