Configure alternative text during image insertion

When you insert an image, the default is that its alternate text is automatically added as an <alt> element of the <image> element, per the DITA standard. You can change this default.

The alternate text is the text that a user enters in the Title field of the Show/Edit Image dialog during image creation. You can configure the IXIASOFT CCMS so that when an image is inserted:

  • The alternate text is included in the alt attribute of the <image> element
  • The alternate text is not included in the <image> element
  • The alternate text is included in the <alt> element of the <image> element (default)
Note: In DITA 1.0, this information was provided in the alt attribute of the <image> element, which has been deprecated but is still valid. Depending on your requirements, you may want to use the alt attribute of the <image> element when inserting an image, or you may not want the alternate text at all.
Important: Make configuration changes in a test environment and confirm they work before copying them to a production environment. For dedicated SaaS deployments, test the changes and then ask IXIASOFT Customer Support to copy the changes to your production environment.

To configure alternative text during image insertion:

  1. In the TEXTML Administration perspective, connect to your server.
  2. Locate the mutliimage.xml file in the repository's /system/conf collection.
  3. Check out the file and open it for editing.
  4. Under the <multiimage> element, add the following element: 
    <!-- type is [element|attribute|none] -->
<alternateHandling type="type"/>
    where type is one of the following:
    • attribute: The alternate text is added in the alt attribute of the <image> element
    • none: The alternate text is not added to the <image> element
    • element: The alternate text is added in the <alt> element of the <image> element (default)
    For example, consider the following multiimage.xml file:
    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE multiimage PUBLIC "-//ixiasoft.com//cms//config//multiimage" "multiimage.dtd">

...
   <!-- type is [element|attribute|none] -->
   <alternateHandling type="attribute"/>
</multiimage>
    When you insert an image with the "Create a Ditaval file" alternate text, the following DITA code will be added: 
    <image alt="Create a Ditaval file" href="lar1371584859805.image" id="image_hhn_qyj_4k"/>
  5. Save, close, and check in the file.
  6. Inform users of the changes.
    The changes will be applied automatically once users close and then reopen their IXIASOFT CCMS Desktop. Users can also apply the changes without restarting their CCMS Desktop by clicking IXIASOFT CCMS > Synchronize Configuration.
The alternative text during image insertion is configured as you designated.