Customizing HTML with a .properties file

You can also use a .properties file to reference a set of build parameters when building output with the dita command. The DITA-OT documentation uses a .properties file to include custom CSS, header branding, and table-of-contents navigation in the HTML5 output.

Procedure

  1. Create a .properties file to store the parameter settings for your customization.
    Tip: You can use one of the sample .properties files from the DITA-OT documentation as a starting point for your own customizations. These files are available in the installation folder under docsrc/samples/properties/.

    For example:

    Figure 1. The docsrc/samples/properties/sequence-html5.properties file
    # Directory that contains the custom .css file:
args.cssroot = ${args.input.dir}/css/

# Custom .css file used to style output:
args.css = style.css

# Copy the custom .css file to the output directory:
args.copycss = yes

# Location of the copied .css file relative to the output:
args.csspath = branding

# Generate a full navigation TOC in topic pages:
nav-toc = full
  2. Reference your .properties file with the dita command when building your output. 
    dita --input=my.ditamap --format=html5 --propertyfile=my.properties

Results

Note: For an example of HTML output generated using this method, see the HTML5 version of the DITA-OT documentation included in the installation folder under doc/index.html.