Navigating the Document Content in Author Mode

Navigation Keyboard Shortcuts

Tab: Navigate to the next XML node.
Tip: If you encounter a space-preserved element when you navigate through a document and you do not press another key, pressing the Tab key will continue the navigation. However, if the cursor is positioned in a space-preserved element and you press another key or you position the cursor inside such an element using the mouse, the Tab key can be used to arrange the text.
Shift + Tab: Navigate to the previous XML node.
Ctrl + RightArrow (Command + RightArrow on macOS): Navigate one word forward.
Ctrl + LeftArrow (Command + LeftArrow on macOS): Navigate one word backward.
Ctrl + Home (Command + Home on macOS): Position the cursor at the beginning of the document.
Ctrl + End (Command + End on macOS): Position the cursor at the end of the document.

Navigating to a Modification

Oxygen XML Editor includes some actions that help you to quickly navigate to a particular modification. These navigation buttons are available in the main toolbar (they can also be accessed from the Find menu):

Last Modification: Navigates to the last modification in any open tab.
Back: Navigates to the last selected editor tab or to the last selected element/content in the current tab. You can also go back after clicking on links in Text or Author mode.
Forward: Available after you use the Back button at least once, and it navigates in the opposite direction as the Back button.

Navigating with the Outline View

Oxygen XML Editor includes an Outline view that displays a hierarchical tag overview of the currently edited XML Document.

You can use this view to quickly navigate through the current document by selecting nodes in the outline tree. It is synchronized with the editor area, so when you make a selection in the Outline view, the corresponding nodes are highlighted in the editor area.

Figure 1. Outline View Navigation in Author Mode

Using the Breadcrumb to Navigate

A breadcrumb on the stripe at the top of the document indicates the path from document root to the current element. It can also be used as a helpful tool to navigate to specific elements throughout the structure of the document.

The last element listed in the breadcrumb is the element at the current cursor position. The last element is also highlighted by a thin light blue bar for easier identification. Clicking an element from the breadcrumb selects the entire element and navigates to it in the editor area.

Using the Linking Support

When working on multiple documents that reference each other (references, external entities, XInclude, DITA conref, etc.), the linking support is useful for navigating between the documents. In the built-in frameworks that are bundled with Oxygen XML Editor, links are marked with the

icon (or the

icon for key-based references). When hovering over the icon, the mouse pointer changes its shape to indicate that the link can be accessed and a tooltip presents the destination location. Click the link to open the referenced resource in the editor or system browser. The same effect can be obtained by using the Document > File > Open file at cursor (Ctrl + Enter (Command + Enter on macOS)) action when the cursor is inside a link element.

Note: Depending on the referenced file type, the target link will either be opened in the Oxygen XML Editor or in the default system application. If the target file does not exist, Oxygen XML Editor prompts you to create it.

Navigating with Bookmarks

A position in a document can be marked with a bookmark. You can then quickly go to the marked position with a keyboard shortcut or a menu action. This is useful when navigating large documents or working on multiple documents where the cursor needs to move between several marked positions. The bookmarks are displayed with a small icon on the vertical strip to the left of the editor. You can place up to nine distinct bookmarks in any document. Shortcut keys are available to navigate to any of the marked positions (Ctrl+1 through Ctrl+9). There are also shortcuts for creating bookmarks (Ctrl+Shift+1 through Ctrl+Shift+9). You can also configure these shortcut keys in the Options > Menu Shortcut Keys menu.

To insert a bookmark in Author mode, do any of the following:

Click in the vertical stripe on the left side of the editor (to the left of the line number).
Press F9 on your keyboard or use any of the specific bookmark creation shortcuts ((Ctrl+Shift+1 through Ctrl+Shift+9).
Select the Create Bookmark action from the Edit > Bookmarks menu.

To remove bookmark in Author mode, do either of the following:

Left-click its icon in the vertical stripe.
Right-click its icon on the vertical stripe and select Remove or Remove all (Ctrl+F7 (Command+F7 on macOS)).

To navigate to a specific bookmark, do either of the following:

Use any of the specific bookmark navigation shortcuts (Ctrl+1 through Ctrl+9).
Use one of the actions available on the Edit > Bookmarks > Go to menu.
Tip: The navigation shortcuts work even if the document where the bookmark was inserted has been closed. In this case, using the shortcut will automatically re-open the document.