Attribute Editor screen

Editing Text

Once a text attribute is opened for editing, the main panel will display the content of that attribute for editing, in the current language. Where the attribute also exists in a master language, the top of the editing area will display the value of the attribute in that language for reference. This master language display is not editable and can be collapsed.

The OK, Save and Cancel buttons allow you to save or reject any changes you have made. OK will save the attribute value and close the editor. Save will save the attribute value but leave the editor open for further editing. Cancel will discard all changes made since the last save and close the editor.

Undo/Redo

When edits are made to the attribute the Undo button will activate to show that one or more undo actions are available. Repeatedly clicking undo will progressively remove changes from the attribute. Once the Undo option has been used, Redo will become available allowing the user to re-apply changes previously undone with the Undo option.

•  Undo changes
•  Redo previously undone changes

Copy/Paste

The Copy and Paste buttons provide similar functionality to the browser copy and paste (CTRL/CMD + C, CTRL/CMD + V), except that they interact with the AMI clipboard. Selecting a section of text and clicking Copy will copy that text to the AMI clipboard, which will be visible if your current AMI Workspace has the Clipboard gadget.

The Paste button will become enabled when the current AMI clipboard page contains an item of text. Since the clipboard is also capable of containing various items such as objects and table rows/columns, not all contents will enable the Paste button. However, as well as snippets of text, certain copied items like Attributes and Asset References can be pasted in to the attribute editor to create an Attribute or Asset Reference in the text.

•  Copy current selection to AMI clipboard
•  Paste current entry on AMI clipboard in to the attribute editor

Unlike the standard browser copy and paste functions, the Copy and Paste buttons also retain the full information of the copied area - that is to say any Asset References, Attribute References, Glossary Terms, etc. are copied in their full form. Pasting these previously copied areas of text will recreate those references, etc. exactly as they were in the original case.

Using your web browser's copy and paste functions will not retain this information, instead only copying or pasting the text itself and not any of the additional markup. Also, pasting from external sources (copied text from other websites, Microsoft Word, etc.) using the browser's paste function will only paste the text and not any markup which may have been in the original text (headings, text formatting, etc.). This is to maintain the integrity of the text value within AMI and avoid unexpected formatting which Agility may not recognise.

Formatting Options

These formatting options will only be available for text attribute definitions which have the "formatted" option selected.

Paragraph

Applies the selected style to the entire paragraph that the cursor is currently in. Only one paragraph style can be applied to a paragraph.

Character

Applies the selected style to the current selection. Only one character style can be applied to an area of text.

Override

Applies the selected style to the current selection. Only one override style can be applied to an area of text.

 Remove Styles

After prompting for confirmation, this will remove all styles from the text.

Edit as Control Attribute

This feature allows you to edit the text as if it was a simple table, using Column and Row Delimiters to separate the text into cells. Control Attributes are a specialised form of text attribute.

Select the Edit as Control Attribute button to display the attribute in table form in the top area of the editor, whilst the bottom area displays the actual text value of the attribute.

In the control area of the editor it is possible to set the characters to be used as the Column Delimiter (the character at which a new column will be created) and the Row Delimiter (the character at which a new row will be created). These characters can also be chosen from the available glossary terms by clicking the appropriate Term button.

Columns and rows can be added to the attribute using the Add Column and Add Row buttons. This will insert text with the appropriate delimiters and some default text, which can then be edited. In the top area of the editor individual cells can be selected and moved using the move buttons. They can also be deleted by clicking the cross  displayed when hovering over each cell.

•  Move the selected cell to the far left
•  Move the selected cell to the left one cell
•  Move the selected cell to the right one cell
•  Move the selected cell to the far right

Clicking the Edit as Control Attribute button again will close the top cell editor panel and controls whilst retaining any text changes which have been made.

Options Menu

The options menu contains several functions for adding complex references and characters to the attribute. They can also be configured to appear instead as icons in the editor's toolbar.

 Insert Fraction...

Displays a dialog for entering the numerator and denominator of a fraction. Select OK to insert the fraction at the cursor's current location.

Double-click a fraction to edit its values.

 Insert Hyperlink...

Displays a dialog for entering a URL and either text or an Agility asset relation to create a hyperlink in the attribute value. Entering text is straightforward and if no text is entered then the URL will be displayed as text instead. If you choose an Asset hyperlink then selecting Next takes you to the dialog for selecting the asset relation which is to be shown in the hyperlink.

Select OK to insert the hyperlink at the cursor's current location.

Double-click a hyperlink to edit its values.

 Glossary Term...

Allows you to insert an Agility glossary terms into the attribute's value.

You can Filter the list of glossary terms. The value is applied as a 'contains' filter.

Select  or double-click a glossary term it insert it at the cursor's current location.

 Attribute Reference...

Allows you to insert references to other attribute instances. This feature is only enabled when at least one attribute instance is on the AMI clipboard.

The dialog displays the current AMI clipboard, allowing you to move left and right through the clipboard pages to select the attribute instance to be pasted. Only attribute instances will be displayed. Any clipboard pages that do not contain attribute instances will not be displayed.

To select an attribute for pasting, check the checkbox next to the value and select OK. In the case of language-dependent attributes the attribute can be expanded to show the available languages to select a particular language version. Multiple values can be selected at the same time

Double-click an attribute reference to edit its values. See Attribute Editor screen for more information.

 Price Reference...

Allows you to insert a reference to a price in the attribute's value.

Select the object that the price reference will be associated with. The object can be selected either by typing the ID in to the relevant field, by entering the Name in the relevant field, or by selecting an object from the browser.

Select the Price Type and Price Style for the reference from the dropdown lists. (The Price List selected in AMI is used to resolve the reference.)

Select OK to insert the price reference at the cursor's current location.

Double-click a price reference to edit its values.

 Asset Reference...

Allows you to insert a reference to an asset related to an object. 

Select the object either by typing the ID in to the relevant field, by entering the Name in the relevant field, or by selecting an object from the browser.

Select Next to choose an asset relation available to the selected object. The Show selector allows you to choose to display only Linked Assets (those relations which already have an asset associated with them for the current object), All Relations, or the relations in the Default Design for this object. One or more asset relations can be selected, and in the case of language-dependent relations the relation can be expanded to select specific language versions.

Select OK to insert the asset reference at the cursor's current location.

Double-click an asset reference to edit its value.

 Smart Attribute...

Smart attribute (alternatively known as publishing blocks) allows you to add a reference to a smart attribute script. Select the object instance to be used as the base context for the script either by typing the ID in to the relevant field, by entering the Name in the relevant field, or by selecting an object from the browser.

Click Next to select a smart attribute definition. The Show selector allows you to choose to display only Linked Smart Attributes (those smart attributes which are listed in any of the Design objects for the object's publication properties), All Smart Attributes, or the smart attributes in the Default Design for this object (again, taken from the object's publication properties). One or more smart attributes can be selected.

Select OK to insert the smart attribute at the cursor's current location.

Double-click a smart attribute reference to edit its values.

 Page Number Reference...

Allows you to insert a reference to the lowest page number on which an object appears. This feature is only enabled when a Page Number Attribute has been configured in the current workspace parameters.

Select the object for the page number reference, either by typing the ID in to the relevant field, by entering the Name in the relevant field, or by selecting an object from the browser.

Select OK to insert the page number reference at the cursor's current location.

Double-click a page number reference to edit its value.