Configuration

Customize your transformation process

While transforming a lesson into any of the formats described in this chapter, eLML always reads the projects configuration file and uses its parameters to create e.g. a student or a tutor version, to display or hide the navigation, to define the position of the page break etc. Therefore it is important to understand how the eLML configuration file is used before starting to transform a lesson. If a project does not have a config.xml file eLML just uses the default values from the eLML core which might lead to unwanted results.

Create a new config.xml file

The location where eLML is looking for a config.xml file is always:
projectfolder/_config/config.xml

So the config.xml file is basically in the same folder as the validate.xsd file which you need to validate a lesson! The root element is called "config" and it should contain the configuration schema definition as follows:

The parameters in the config.xml file

The root element of the config.xml file is "config" as described above. Subelements of it are general, online, print, latex*, modules* and terms* (* means optional). The subelements contain several parameters that allow influencing the transformation. They are explained in detail in the table below. First let's look at an example of a configuration file:

Screenshot of a config.xml file

The section "general" contains all parameters used in every kind of transformation:

element	values	description
contact	an email address	Enter the contact email that students will use to contact the tutor of the course.
server	an url	Enter the URL to your server's home page.
role	"tutor" or "student"	Some eLML element offer the "role" attribute. With this attribute you can add content (like solutions, information about setting up an exercise etc.) that only the tutor should see. In the configuration file you can then define if you want your transformation to be a student or a tutor version. Default is the student version with less information shown.
pagebreak_level	"oneoutput", "lesson", "unit" or "lo"	"oneoutput" transforms all lessons into one single file (html, pdf,...) "lesson" transforms the current lesson into one single file (for the transformation of a single lesson the output of "oneoutput" and "lesson" is the same) "unit" starts for each unit a new file (html) or a new page (pdf, latex,...) "lo" starts for each learningObject a new file (html) or a new page (pdf, latex,..)
chapter_numeration	"yes" or "no"	Switch on ("yes") or off ("no") the automatic numeration of the chapter headings (in the headings and in the table of content).
manifest_type	"ims", "scorm" or "both"	Defines what type of standardised imsmanifest.xml file will be produced. See section Creating SCORM and IMS Content Package for LMS import for more information.
optional_units	labelname of units	Units listed here are marked specially so that the student knows that those units are optional learning material.

Overview configuration file: Elements of the section 'general'

The section "online" controls how the XHTML version is generated:

element	values	description
bugtracker	url	Enter an URL to your bugtracker form here. Don't use the element if you don't have a bugtracker in your project
use_navigation	"yes" or "no"	Switch on ("yes") or off ("no") to display or hide the navigation.
use_labelReferences	"yes", "no" (default) or Color Code	With this element you can enable the creation of a highlighting-JavaScript when you are using the labelRef attribute. Interpreted are the values 'no' (no highlighting), 'yes' (highlighting with the default color red) or a colour value such as "#FEF456" or "green" (highlighting with the specified colour value).
use_embed	"yes" (default) or "no"	The HTML tag "embed" is officially deprecated but older browser still use it. With this element you can choose wether you want to disable or enable the generation of the embed tag in eLML (eLML will generate the object tag in both cases!).
html_version	"1.0" (default), "1.1" or "5"	Setting this tag does far more than generate older XHTML 1.0 Transitional code, newer XHTML 1.1 Strict code or latest HTML5 code. Read the manual for more information about XHTML 1.1 and HTML5 in eLML!
css_framework	"yaml" or "none"	It is possible to use the CSS Framework YAML by defining the value 'yaml'. If you dont know what this is leave it to 'none'.
icon_filetype	"png", "jpg" or "gif"	Define the types of Icons you are using. Either gif, png or jpg.
lightwindow	"yes" or "no"	Would you like to use the lightwindow script to show large images? Works with the multimedia element if thumbnails are used.
glossaryMousoverWithHTML	"yes" or "no"	Choose "no" if you want your glossary mouseovers to contain text only, choose "yes" if the mouseovers can also contain images, links etc.

Overview configuration file: Elements of the section 'online'

The section "print" is used to define parameters for the XSL-FOXSL-FO/PDF transformation:

element	values	description
display_links	"yes" or "no"	Links are also clickable in the PDF version. Should additionally the link URI be written in brackets after the link text? Choose "yes" or "no".
hyphenation	"yes" or "no"	Do you want to active hyphenation in your PDF document?
fop_version	"0.2", "0.9", "0.95" or "1"	Choose which FOP version you are using.
pageheight		The height of your page (e.g. "29.7cm" for A4).
pagewidth		The width of your page (e.g. "21cm" for A4).
fontsize		Your default font size (e.g. "11pt").
lineheight		Your default line height (e.g. "15pt").
fontweighttitle		Your default font weight for titles (e.g. "bold").
converter_pixel_mm	0.2646	The conversion factor from pixel to mm (do NOT change, should be "0.2646").

Overview configuration file: Elements of the section 'print'

The LaTeX parameters allow the control of the generated LaTeXLaTeX file (a second technology besides XSLFO to create a PDF version):

element	values	description
documentclass	"article" or "book"	Defines the type of document (in LaTeX called "document class") generated.

Overview configuration file: Elements of the section 'latex'

The following section "modules" allows the transformation of several lessons into one course. Please read the chapter how to create course to see some examples and a tutorial on how to transform multiple lessons into one course.

element	values	description
course	subelements labelname with valid lesson labels	List the labels of all lessons which build together a course
attribute subnavigation of element course	"on" or "off"	Switch on or off the subnavigation.
attribute title of element course	some title	Define the title of your course.
attribute authors of element course	author names	List the most important authors of your course (they will be shown e.g. on the first page of the pdf. All authors will still be visible in the metadata of each lesson.

Overview configuration file: Elements of the section 'modules'

In the section "terms" you can override predefined terms like glossary, bibliography or introduction etc.:

element	values	description
msg with attributes name and lang	term in the language specified in the attribute lang	Enter your own term for specific predefined terms.

Overview configuration file: Elements of the section 'terms'

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