Plugins can obtain their data from a database, (local) XML files or from an (external) online service. The first chapter of this document describes the syntax of (local) XML files that store placeholders, actions, templates...

The second chapter describes the DTD of XML files, which serve as a basis for generating InDesign® Documents from XML files.

The usual entities are used for encoding XML characters. They do not have to be defined.

Characters with an ASCII code > 127 are called special characters. They are referred to with their unicode code point in decimal or hexadecimal of the form :

®

®

In the following table, the unicodes for characters 128-255 are given. On Mac OS X, you can use the names given in the table, in addition to the numeric values.

Please bear in mind that not all unicode characters can be rendered with the fonts used in InDesign® panels.

When writing back data, e.g. when the description of a template was changed, the Mac-specific character names are lost and replaced by the numeric notation.

For more characters see siehe: HTML Character reference by Stefan Münz.

With the Werk II Plugins, InDesign® documents can be generated from special XML files. In the following, the DTD of those XML files is described. You can request example data from Werk II.

Create the output file according to the specifications in the element attibutes. This element uses its own attributes for specifications, rather than the more common child elements. The following attributes are defined:

This example creates the InDesign® document daypack-2004-01-26_12-48 in the directory /Transfer/Werk2/1. XML Import:

<FileBlock
	FileName="daypack-2004-01-26_12-48.qxp"
	FilePath="D:\Transfer\Werk2\1. XML Import ins Quark\">

Settings for the page numbering in the document. The following child elements can be defined:

This example document starts on page 12

<PageNumbers>
   <StartPage>12</StartPage>
   <NumPages>1</NumPages>
   <Restart>yes</Restart>
   <NumberingStyle>NUMERIC</NumberingStyle>
   <Prefix/>
</PageNumbers>

Unused for InDesign®, see Paragraph and Character Styles.

Definitions for entries in the panel Swatches. The entries should be defined before the Paragraph and Character Styles are. Any number of entries of type ColorInfo can be defined.

The following child elements are allowed for description:

This example defines the color 5-Color-Price. The color definition is given in the Model element, the value of the CMYK is ignored.

 <Colors>
    <ColorInfo>
    <name>5-Farbe-Preis</name>
    <Type>PROCESS</Type>
    <Model B="49.620811" G="1.620508" R="93.749901">CMYK</Model>
    <CMYK>
        <C>0.00</C>
        <M>100.00</M>
        <Y>0.00</Y>
        <K>0.00</K>
    </CMYK>
    </ColorInfo>
    :
</Colors>

Definitions of entries in the Paragraph Styles and Character Styles panels. If values are provided for the attributes BasedOn and FollowedBy, the referenced definitions have to be defined first. Similarly, referenced colors (except default entries, see below) have to be defined.

The following example shows all supported style settings and their default values. The full description of all settings is summarized here. All Attributes that can be used in Character styles (CharStyle) can also be used for paragraph styles (ParaStyle). If attributes are not defined, the default values from InDesign® or the Document are used for paragraph styles. For character styles, the settings from the preceeding text are used. If you're not using a setting, make sure to not specify a value in the XML file. All sizes are given as float values in points.

Define a Character Style that sets the font size to 18 points, but leaves all other settings untouched.

<CharStyle Name="18-Point" BasedOn="" FollowedBy="">
    <Size>18</Size>
</CharStyle>

Define a Paragraph Style that sets the font size to 18 points, but leaves all other settings untouched.

<ParaStyle Name="18-Point" BasedOn="" FollowedBy="">
    <Size>18</Size>
</CharStyle>

Full list of all implemented XML tags

<ParaStyle Name="Default">
    <!-- Basic formatting -->
    <Typeface>Regular</Typeface>
    <Size>12.0</Size>
    <AutoPairKern>Metrics</AutoPairKern>
    <Ligatures>yes</Ligatures>
    <Tracking>0.0</Tracking>
    <Case>Normal</Case>
    <Kerning>0.0</Kerning>
    <Leading>-1.0</Leading>
    <NoBreak>false</NoBreak>
    <Underline>None</Underline>
    <Font>Verdana</Font>
    <Position>Normal</Position>
    <Strikethru>no</Strikethru>

    <!-- Extended formatting -->
    <HorizontalScale>100.0</HorizontalScale>
    <VerticalScale>100.0</VerticalScale>
    <Skew>0.0</Skew>
    <BaselineShift>0.0</BaselineShift>
    <Language>German:Reformed</Language>

    <!-- Color settings --> 
    <Color>Black</Color>
    <StrokeWeight>0.0</StrokeWeight>
    <StrokeColor>None</StrokeColor>
    <StrokeTint>100.0</StrokeTint>
    <ColorTint>100.0</ColorTint>
    <StrokeOverprint>false</StrokeOverprint>
    <Overprint>false</Overprint>

    <!-- OpenType functions --> 
    <OrdinalSigns>no</OrdinalSigns>
    <Fractions>no</Fractions>
    <DiscreteLigatures>no</DiscreteLigatures>
    <Titling>no</Titling>
    <ContextualAternates>no</ContextualAternates>
    <Swash>no</Swash>
    <FigureStyle>Default</FigureStyle>
 
   <!-- Underline options --> 

    <UnderlineColor>Black</UnderlineColor>
    <UnderlineGapColor>None</UnderlineGapColor>
    <UnderlineGapOverprint>false</UnderlineGapOverprint>
    <UnderlineGapTint>100.0</UnderlineGapTint>
    <UnderlineOffset>0.0</UnderlineOffset>
    <UnderlineOverprint>false</UnderlineOverprint>
    <UnderlineTint>100.0</UnderlineTint>
    <UnderlineWeightOffset>1.0</UnderlineWeightOffset>
    <UnderlineType>SOLID</UnderlineType>

    <!-- Strike through options --> 
    <StrikethruColor>Black</StrikethruColor>
    <StrikethruGapColor>None</StrikethruGapColor>
    <StrikethruGapOverprint>false</StrikethruGapOverprint>
    <StrikethruGapTint>100.0</StrikethruGapTint>
    <StrikethruOffset>0.0</StrikethruOffset>
    <StrikethruOverprint>false</StrikethruOverprint>
    <StrikethruTint>100.0</StrikethruTint>
    <StrikethruWeightOffset>1.0</StrikethruWeightOffset>
    <StrikethruType>SOLID</StrikethruType>

    <!-- Indents and spacing (paragraphs only) --> 
    <LeftIndent>0.0</LeftIndent>
    <RightIndent>0.0</RightIndent>
    <FirstLineIndent>0.0</FirstLineIndent>
    <SpaceBefore>0.0</SpaceBefore>
    <SpaceAfter>0.0</SpaceAfter>
    <BalanceLines>false</BalanceLines>
    <TextAlignment>Left</TextAlignment>
    <GridAlign>None</GridAlign>

    <!-- Tabulator (paragraphs only) --> 
    <Tabstops>
        <Tabstop Position="100.0"/>
        <Tabstop Position="180.0"/>
        <Tabstop Position="300.0" Alignment="Right" Leader="."/>   
    </Tabstops>

    <!-- Paragraph rules (paragraphs only) --> 
    <RuleAboveColor>Black</RuleAboveColor>
    <RuleAboveStroke>1.0</RuleAboveStroke>
    <RuleAboveTint>100.0</RuleAboveTint>
    <RuleAboveOffset>0.0</RuleAboveOffset>
    <RuleAboveLeftIndent>0.0</RuleAboveLeftIndent>
    <RuleAboveRightIndent>0.0</RuleAboveRightIndent>
    <RuleAboveOverprint>false</RuleAboveOverprint>
    <RuleAboveOn>false</RuleAboveOn>
    <RuleAboveStrokeType>SOLID</RuleAboveStrokeType>
    <RuleAboveGapColor>None</RuleAboveGapColor>
    <RuleAboveGapTint>100.0</RuleAboveGapTint>
    <RuleAboveGapOverprint>false</RuleAboveGapOverprint>
    <RuleAboveMode>None</RuleAboveMode>

    <RuleBelowColor>Black</RuleBelowColor>
    <RuleBelowStroke>1.0</RuleBelowStroke>
    <RuleBelowTint>100.0</RuleBelowTint>
    <RuleBelowOffset>0.0</RuleBelowOffset>
    <RuleBelowLeftIndent>0.0</RuleBelowLeftIndent>
    <RuleBelowRightIndent>0.0</RuleBelowRightIndent>
    <RuleBelowOverprint>false</RuleBelowOverprint>
    <RuleBelowOn>false</RuleBelowOn>
    <RuleBelowStrokeType>SOLID</RuleBelowStrokeType>
    <RuleBelowGapColor>None</RuleBelowGapColor>
    <RuleBelowGapTint>100.0</RuleBelowGapTint>
    <RuleBelowGapOverprint>false</RuleBelowGapOverprint>
    <RuleBelowMode>None</RuleBelowMode>

    <!-- Break options (paragraphs only) --> 
    <KeepWithNext>0</KeepWithNext>
    <KeepLines>false</KeepLines>
    <KeepParaTogether>false</KeepParaTogether>
    <KeepFirstNLines>2</KeepFirstNLines>
    <KeepLastNLines>2</KeepLastNLines>
    <BreakBefore>StartAnywhere</BreakBefore>

    <!-- Hyphenation (paragraphs only) --> 
    <HyphenMethod>Dictionary</HyphenMethod>
    <HyphenShortestWord>5</HyphenShortestWord>
    <HyphenMinCharsBefore>2</HyphenMinCharsBefore>
    <HyphenMinCharsAfter>2</HyphenMinCharsAfter>
    <HyphenLadderLimit>3</HyphenLadderLimit>
    <HyphenZone>12.7</HyphenZone>
    <HyphenCapitalized>true</HyphenCapitalized>
    <HyphenWeight>5</HyphenWeight>

    <!-- Spacing (paragraphs only) --> 
    <MinWordSpace>80.0</MinWordSpace>
    <DesiredWordSpace>100.0</DesiredWordSpace>
    <MaxWordSpace>133.0</MaxWordSpace>
    <MinLetterspace>0.0</MinLetterspace>
    <DesiredLetterspace>0.0</DesiredLetterspace>
    <MaxLetterspace>0.0</MaxLetterspace>
    <MinGlyphScale>100.0</MinGlyphScale>
    <DesiredGlyphScale>100.0</DesiredGlyphScale>
    <MaxGlyphScale>100.0</MaxGlyphScale>
    <AutoLeadPercent>120.0</AutoLeadPercent>
    <SingleWordAlignment>Justify</SingleWordAlignment>
    <TextComposer>Paragraph</TextComposer>

    <!-- Initials and nested forms (paragraphs only) --> 
    <DropCapCharacters>0</DropCapCharacters>
    <DropCapLines>0</DropCapLines>
    <RunInStyles>
        <RunInStyle Stylename="Stil 1" TriggerExpression=""/>
        <RunInStyle Stylename="Stil 2"
                    TriggerExpression="Words"
                    Counts="3"
                    Includes="true"/>
        <RunInStyle Stylename="Stil 3"
                    TriggerExpression="Characters"
                    Counts="30"
                    Includes="false"/>
    </RunInStyles>
</ParaStyle>

Element	C/P	Availability	Type	Values	Default	Description
• Basic formatting
Typeface	C/P	All	string	Regular Bold Bold-Italic	Regular	Name of a valid type style of the specified font. The values may differ.
Size	C/P	All	float		12.0	Font size
AutoPairKern	C/P	All	enum	Off Metric LatinOnly Optical	Metrics	Method for kerning pairs of letrers
Ligatures	C/P		bool		yes
Tracking	C/P	All	float		0.0
Case	C/P	All	enum	Normal SmallLowerCase All SmallEverything	Normal	Small Caps
Kerning	C/P	All	float		0.0	Sensible values are roughly in the range -200.0 to 300.0
Leading	C/P	All	float		-1.0 (auto)	Line spacing
NoBreak	C/P	All	bool		false
Underline	C/P	All	enum	None Single	None
Font	C/P	All	string		0.0	Name of an installed font without type style specified
Position	C/P	All	enum	Normal Superscript Subscript Superior Inferior Numerator Denominator	Normal	Position of the text relative to normal text
Strikethru	C/P	All	bool		no
• Extended formatting
HorizontalScale	C/P	All	float	Percentages 0.0 - 100.0	100.0
VerticalScale	C/P	All	float	Percentages 0.0 - 100.0	100.0
Skew	C/P	All	float	Degrees 0.0 - 85.5	0.0	Skew of the text. All values above 45° make text nigh unreadable, values above 85° are not allowed.
BaselineShift	C/P	All	float		0.0
Language	C/P	All	string	Neutral English: UK Portuguese: Brazilian French: Canadian Catalan Danish Dutch Finnish French German: Reformed German: Traditional Italian Norwegian: Bokmal Norwegian: Nynorsk Portuguese German: Swiss Spanish: Castilian Swedish English: USA English: USA Legal English: USA Medical	InDesign® Setting	Additional names may be available if other languages are installed. Their names are analogous to the names on the left, e.g. Gaelic: Scots Gaelic: Irish To determine the exact name, follow these steps: Define a new Character Style Set "Extended Formatting : Language" to the desired language Apply the new character style to a document text Export the document text as tagged text In the Exportfile, find the <cLanguage> tag, which will contain the desired name. The backslashes (\) can be omitted.
• Color options
Color	C/P	All	string	None Black Paper Registration Dokumentfarbe	Black
ColorTint	C/P	All	float	Percentages 0.0 - 100.0	100.0	Color strength
Overprint	C/P	All	bool		false
StrokeWeight	C/P	All	float		0.0	Weight of the text contour
StrokeColor	C/P	All	string	None Black Paper Registration Dokumentfarbe	None
StrokeTint	C/P	All	float	Percentages 0.0 - 100.0	yes	Color strength for the text contour
StrokeOverprint	C/P	All	bool		0.0
• OpenType functions
OrdinalSigns	C/P	All	bool		no
Fractions	C/P	All	bool		no
DiscreteLigatures	C/P	All	bool		no
Titling	C/P	All	bool		no
ContextualAternates	C/P	All	bool		no
Swash	C/P	All	bool		no
Ligatures	C/P	All	bool		yes
FigureStyle	C/P	All	float	Default LiningTabular OldstyleProp LiningProp OldstyleTabular	Default
• Underline options
UnderlineColor	C/P	CS	string	None Black Paper Registration Dokumentfarbe	Black	To activate underlining use the value <Underline> Single </Underline>
UnderlineGapColor	C/P	CS	string	None Black Paper Registration Dokumentfarbe	None	The underline's gap-filling color, used e.g. between the two lines of a double underline.
UnderlineGapOverprint	C/P	CS	bool		false
UnderlineGapTint	C/P	CS	float	Percentages 0.0 - 100.0	0.0
UnderlineOffset	C/P	CS	float		0.0
UnderlineOverprint	C/P	CS	bool		false
UnderlineTint	C/P	CS	float	Percentages 0.0 - 100.0	100.0
UnderlineWeightOffset	C/P	CS	float		1.0	Strength of the underline
UnderlineType	C/P	CS	enum	SOLID DASHED DASH4X4 DASH3X2 DOT WAVY STRAIGTHASH RIGHTSLANT LEFTSLANT DIAMOND JAPANESEDOTS THINTHIN THINTHICKTHIN THICKTHIN THICKTHICK THINTHICKTHIN THICKTHINTHICK TRIPLE TABLESTRIP	SOLID
• Strikethrough options
StrikethruColor	C/P	CS	string	None Black Paper Registration Dokumentfarbe	Black	To activate strikethrough, use the value <Strikethru> true </Strikethru>
StrikethruGapColor	C/P	CS	string	None Black Paper Registration Dokumentfarbe	None
Strikethru	C/P	CS	bool		false
StrikethruGapTint	C/P	CS	float	Percentages 0.0 - 100.0	0.0
StrikethruOffset	C/P	CS	float		0.0
StrikethruOverprint	C/P	CS	bool		no
UnderlineTint	C/P	CS	float	Percentages 0.0 - 100.0	100.0
StrikethruWeightOffset	C/P	All	float		1.0	Strength of the strikethrough
StrikethruType	C/P	CS	enum	SOLID DASHED DASH4X4 DASH3X2 DOT WAVY STRAIGTHASH RIGHTSLANT LEFTSLANT DIAMOND JAPANESEDOTS THINTHIN THINTHICKTHIN THICKTHIN THICKTHICK THINTHICKTHIN THICKTHINTHICK TRIPLE TABLESTRIP	SOLID
• Indents and spacing
LeftIndent	P	All	float		0.0
RightIndent	P	All	float		0.0
FirstLineIndent	P	All	float		0.0
SpaceBefore	P	All	float		0.0
SpaceAfter	P	All	float		0.0
BalanceLines	P	CS	bool		false	Counterbalance ragged margin
TextAlignment	P	CS	enum	Left Center Right Justify Justify, last line left Justify, last line center Justify, last line right	Left
GridAlign	P	All	float	None Baseline EmTop EmCenter EmBottom ICFTop ICFBottom CapHeight Baseline, first line only EmTop, first line only EmCenter, first line only EmBottom, first line only ICFTop, first line only ICFBottom, first line only CapHeight, first line only	None
• Tabulator
Tabstops	Tabstops may have any number of child elements of type Tabstop with the following attributes: Attribute Type Values Default Description Position float Alignment enum Left Center Right Char Left Leader string "" Padding character. This string may be up to 8 characters long. Default bool false For example: <Tabstops>   <Tabstop Position="100.0"/>   <Tabstop Position="180.0"/>   <Tabstop Position="300.0" Alignment="Right" Leader="."/> </Tabstops>
• Paragraph rules
RuleAboveColor	P	All	string	None Black Paper Registration Dokumentfarbe	Black
RuleAboveStroke RuleBelowStroke	P	All	float		1.0
RuleAboveTint RuleBelowTint	P	All	float	Percentages 0.0 - 100.0	100.0
RuleAboveOffset RuleBelowOffset	P	All	float		0.0
RuleAboveLeftIndent RuleBelowLeftIndent	P	All	float		0.0
RuleAboveRightIndent RuleBelowRightIndent	P	All	float		0.0
RuleAboveOverprint RuleBelowOverprint	P	All	bool		true
RuleAboveOn RuleBelowOn	P	All	bool		no
RuleAboveStrokeType RuleBelowStrokeType	P	CS	enum	SOLID DASHED DASH4X4 DASH3X2 DOT WAVY STRAIGTHASH RIGHTSLANT LEFTSLANT DIAMOND JAPANESEDOTS THINTHIN THINTHICKTHIN THICKTHIN THICKTHICK THINTHICKTHIN THICKTHINTHICK TRIPLE TABLESTRIP	SOLID
RuleAboveGapColor RuleBelowGapColor	P	CS	string	None Black Paper Registration Dokumentfarbe	None	Color for gaps in the line(s)
RuleAboveGapTint RuleBelowGapTint	P	CS	float	Percentages 0.0 - 100.0	0.0
RuleAboveGapOverprint RuleBelowGapOverprint	P	CS	bool		false
RuleAboveMode RuleBelowMode	P	All	enum	None ColumnWidth TextWidth	TextWidth
• Break options
KeepWithNext	P	All	int		0	Keep with the specified number of lines
KeepLines	P	All	bool		false	Do not break lines
KeepParaTogether	P	All	bool		false	All lines in the paragraoh. The setting is only active if KeepLines is true.
KeepFirstNLines	P	All	int		2	Do not break the first n lines in the paragraph. The setting is only active if KeepLines is true and keepParaTogether is false.
KeepLastNLines	P	All	int		2	Do not break the last n lines in the paragraph. This setting is only active if KeepLines is true and keepParaTogether is false.
BreakBefore	P	All	enum	StartAnywhere Column Page FrameBox OddPage EvenPage	StartAnywhere	Paragraph start
• Hyphenation
HyphenMethod	P	All	enum	OnlyHard Manual Dictionary Algorithm	Dictionary
HyphenShortestWord	P	All	int		5
HyphenMinCharsBefore	P	All	int		2
HyphenMinCharsAfter	P	All	int		2
HyphenLadderLimit	P	All	int		3	Maximum number of consecutive lines that may start with a hyphen.
HyphenZone	P	All	float		12.7	Hyphenation zone
HyphenCapitalized	P	All	bool		true	Hyphenation of capitalized words
HyphenWeight	P	All	int	0-10	5	Optimization method : 0 reduce distances, ..., 8 reduce hyphens
• Spacing
MinWordSpace	P	All	float	Percentages 0.0 - 1000.0	80.0
DesiredWordSpace	P	All	float	Percentages 0.0 - 1000.0	100.0
MaxWordSpace	P	All	float	Percentages 0.0 - 1000.0	133.0
MinLetterspace	P	All	float	Percentages -100.0 - 500.0	0.0
DesiredLetterspace	P	All	float	Percentages -100.0 - 500.0	0.0
MaxLetterspace	P	All	float	Percentages -100.0 - 500.0	0.0
MinGlyphScale	P	All	float	Percentages 50.0 - 200.0	100.0
DesiredGlyphScale	P	All	float	Percentages 50.0 - 200.0	100.0
MaxGlyphScale	P	All	float	Percentages 50.0 - 200.0	100.0
AutoLeadPercent	P	All	float	Percentages 0.0 - 500.0	120.0	Automatic line height
SingleWordAlignment	P	All	enum	Left Center Right Justify Justify, last line left Justify, last line center Justify, last line right	Justify	Single word alignment
TextComposer	P	All	enum	SingleLine Paragraph	Paragraph	Composer
• Initials and nested forms
DropCapCharacters	P	All	int		0	Number of characters used as initials
DropCapLines	P	All	int		0	Number of lines an initial may span
RunInStyles	P	CS	RunInStyles may have many child elements of type RunInStyle with the following attributes: Attribute Type Value Default Description Stylename strng Name of a previously defined character style TriggerExpression enum Empty String Sentences Words Characters Letters Digits End of format Tab Hard return Indent Hard space Em Space Half em Space Grafik Pagenumber Paragraph The object the style should be applied to. If an empty string is given, the string is applied to the initials. Counts int 1 The number of objects the expression should be applie to Includes bool true Determines whether the objects should comply with the expression For example: <RunInStyles> <RunInStyle Stylename="Style 1" TriggerExpression=""/> <RunInStyle Stylename="Style 2"   TriggerExpression="Words"   Counts="3"   Includes="true"/> <RunInStyle Stylename="Style 3"   TriggerExpression="Characters"   Counts="30"   Includes="false"/> </RunInStyles>