Operation Manual

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XML
Last updated 6/15/2014
Adobe InCopy is one of many applications that can produce and use XML. After you tag content in an InCopy file, you
save and export the file as XML so that it can be repurposed in another InCopy file, InDesign file, or another
application.
In InCopy , you can create XML tags and tag parts of a document even if you’re not experienced with XML. InCopy
handles XML programming behind the scenes and creates the XML for you when you export a document in XML
format.
Note: Do not confuse XML tags with InCopy tagged text. For more information about tagged text, which is a different
method of exporting and importing InCopy content, view the Tagged Text PDF at
www.adobe.com/go/learn_id_taggedtext_cs5_en (PDF).
XML data structure
The element is the building block of XML data; an element is data that has been tagged. In XML files, elements are
nested within other elements to create a hierarchical structure for the data.
You can see the structure of XML data in the Structure pane, which displays the hierarchy and sequence of elements.
In the XML structure, child elements are contained by parent elements, which in turn may also be child elements. Or,
seen from the other direction, parent elements contain child elements, and these child elements may in turn be parent
elements to other child elements.
For example, in the following image, you can see a chapter element that contains (is the parent of) several recipe
elements. Each recipe element, in turn, is the parent of elements called recipename, ingredients, instructions, notes, and
servings. All elements are contained inside the Root element, which appears at the top of the Structure pane.
XML in InDesign Structure pane (left) and placed in layout (right)
For example, in the following image, you can see a chapter element that contains (is the parent of) a recipe element. The
recipe element, in turn, is the parent of elements called recipename and ingredients. All elements are contained inside
the Story element, which always appears at the top of the Structure pane.