Export to XML release notes

Export to XML 1.12

Released 26 October 2026

Improvements

• Document metadata fields can now be mapped to any location in your JATS or BITS output.
• Article history dates now export with the correct @date-type attributes in JATS output.
• Improved handling of author character styles for prefix, suffix, degrees, and role.
• The Contract Sponsor character style now exports to <funding-source> in JATS output.
• The Fig_Alt_Text and Fig_Long_Desc paragraph styles now export to <alt-text> and <long-desc>.
• The Teaser_Head paragraph style now exports as the title of the teaser abstract.
• Forewords and prefaces styled with Foreword_Title and Preface_Title now export as distinct front-matter sections in BITS output.

Fixes

• Tables:
  • Table header cells that span rows or columns now export with the @scope attribute.
  • Table footnote labels now retain superscript formatting from the Word document.
  • Unmatched table footnote citations now produce a clear, descriptive error message.
  • Text styled with formatting such as bold inside a label_table table label now carries that formatting in the XML.
• Objects and boxes:
  • All styles in the Box Caption Continued style set now export inside the box.
  • Processing instructions in a box title now move to the start of the <boxed-text> element, consistent with the existing behaviour for tables and figures.
  • Unnumbered boxes and objects labelled with label_object_type now appear after their first citation, consistent with numbered objects.
  • Tables, figures, and boxes cited immediately before a reference list no longer export inside the reference list. Paragraph styles in the List Item style set are now all recognised as list items.
• References:
  • A group author that follows named authors in a reference no longer exports in a second author group.
  • References now export using bib_fpage (first page) and bib_artid (elocation ID) as tagged by Edifix, rather than making assumptions based on the number of digits in the page number.
• A corresponding author is no longer missed when their name in the Corresponding Author paragraph differs slightly from the byline, or when they are a member of a group.
• Abstract paragraphs no longer lose text immediately before a link during export.
• Articles with no back matter no longer export with an empty <back> element.
• Export to BITS:
  • A poem following a heading now stays inside its section.
  • Body text that follows a Chapter_Title paragraph directly now exports into the chapter body, not the chapter title.

Export to XML 1.11

Released 13 October 2026

Improvements

• Word autonumbered lists now export to JATS and BITS.
• Table cells with vertical alignment (top, middle, or bottom) now export with the matching @valign attribute.
• Live Word footnotes now export as <fn> elements in JATS and BITS.
• You can now use Sig-Block_Signature and Sig-Block_Text paragraph styles to export signature block content in JATS and BITS.
• You can now configure display object placement in the output. By default, cited figures, tables, and boxes move to after their first citation; uncited objects export in their original position.
• The <book> element in BITS export now includes dtd-version="2.0".
• Documents with metadata stored in eXtyles field names now export without needing to duplicate the same metadata in Orion Compass.
• Tags in figures, tables, boxes, and table cells now export consistently in BITS.
• Tags on figure captions now attach to the <fig> element.

Fixes

• The order of back-matter elements—appendixes and reference lists—now follows the paragraph order in the document rather than a fixed order.
• Graphics inside figures now export with complete element structure.
• Display objects inside appendix sections—such as figures and tables—no longer move to the point of their first citation in the body; they stay in the appendix.
• BITS export now reorders <book-meta> child elements to comply with the BITS 2.0 DTD.
• Equal-contribution footnotes now link to the right authors and no longer mark them as corresponding.
• Boxes, figures, and tables with section-based numbering (such as Box 2.1, Box 2.2) now each export with a unique ID.

Export to XML 1.10

Released 28 September 2026

Improvements

Export to BITS

• You can now configure publication metadata in Orion Compass—including publisher name, collection title, book ID, and related fields.
• The Acknowledgement_Head paragraph style is now supported; acknowledgement sections no longer appear outside the book structure.
• You can now use the Box Credit paragraph style.
• Content in the Box Caption Continued style set now stays inside its box in the output.
• Orion Compass 1.5 configuration format compatibility now extends to all XML export modules.
• Documents that begin with a box, without a preceding heading, now export to XML.
• Figure content now exports in DTD-compliant order, even when paragraph styles appear in a non-standard sequence within the figure.
• Authors with multiple affiliation labels in a single paragraph now export without error.
• You can now export MathML content.
• Documents with multiple appendixes now export all appendixes and their cross-references.
• You can now use Backmatter_Note_Head and Backmatter_Note paragraph styles for backmatter sections whose content type doesn't correspond to an existing footnote type.
• Author ORCID iDs now export linked to the correct author when presented as a full URL (https://orcid.org/...) in parentheses after the author's name in the author paragraph. Other placements, such as footnotes, are not yet supported.

Fixes

• Multiple paragraphs inside a table cell now each export as separate <p> elements. You can configure other formats (such as <break/>-separated paragraphs, or <p> elements only on second and subsequent paragraphs) in your JATS2JATS or BITS2BITS export configuration.
• Content styled Non-XML_Text no longer appears in JATS or BITS export output.
• Reference lists inside appendix sections now stay inside their appendix in the output.
• Figures with a source line no longer produce an extra figure element in the output.
• Multiple boxes in the same section no longer merge into a single box in the output.
• Appendix titles followed immediately by appendix text no longer produce invalid XML.
• Tables no longer export nested inside multiple empty sections.
• List items starting with "A" inside table cells no longer cause export to fail.

Export to XML 1.9

Released 16 September 2026

Improvements

• You can now configure how Insert Tags processing instructions are handled during export, combining them into a single processing instruction or converting them to XML element content.
• References using the Bibliography paragraph style no longer export as plain paragraphs.

Fixes

• The Map paragraph styles step no longer fails with an "Invalid relative URI" error when your Orion configuration folder path contains a space.
• Fixed an issue where export failed after updating your configuration files.
• Citation ranges expressed in a single cross-reference (for example, "3–5") now export as linked ranges.
• Corporate author entries no longer merge into a single contributor.
• Multiple correspondence paragraphs no longer merge into one.
• Documents with more than one Keywords list no longer export as a single keyword group.
• Box text content no longer exports inside the box caption.
• Table footnote links now comply with PubMed Central and JATS4R requirements.
• Tables no longer split into two tables in the output when their label is cited separately.
• Lists inside table cells no longer cause the table to split.
• Content in the Table Foot style set no longer drops outside the table in Export to BITS.
• Content in the Figure Caption Continued style set no longer drops outside its figure.

Export to XML 1.8

Released 27 August 2026

Improvements

• Citation ranges (for example, "3–5") built by Citation Matching now export as linked cross-references for each reference in the range.

Export to XML 1.7

Released 24 August 2026

Improvements

• The default BITS template now supports front-matter paragraph styles—including heading levels and pull quotes.
• Citations to labelled objects now export when built by Citation Matching.
• Table headers now export with accessibility information.
• Reference citations for organisations now export to the correct author element.
• Paragraphs in the Correspondence style set now always export as correspondence.

Fixes

Export to BITS

• BITS export no longer duplicates author names when a book opens with title, subtitle, and author paragraphs.
• BITS export no longer produces malformed XML from documents containing isolated metadata markers.
• Term and definition abbreviation lists now export as glossary definition lists.
• Editorial comment text, for example left by Citation Order Checking, no longer appears in the output.
• Metadata mapped from your Orion configuration, such as language, volume number, and publication date, is no longer dropped from the output.
• Paragraphs listed in the Box Caption Continued style set now stay inside their box, move with the box when cited, keep their own heading and list structure instead of being flattened, and support box lists nested up to four levels deep.
• Multiple supplementary material captions in the same section no longer merge into one.
• Video and audio captions now appear in the output.
• Nested box headings at the same level now each generate their own section.
• Several fixes improve compliance with PubMed Central requirements for journal IDs, table footnote symbols, and external links.
• An unmatched correspondence marker no longer creates an empty affiliation in the output.

Export to XML 1.6

Released 31 July 2026

Improvements

• You can now export name-date (author-date) reference citations; cross-references link to the matching reference regardless of citation style.
• You can now configure JATS2JATS or BITS2BITS rules to change the text content of an XML element, not just its structure or attributes.

Fixes

• External links in the output now include the URL as a link target.
• Lists inside table cells no longer split the surrounding table into two separate tables.
• Fixed an issue where table footnote cross-references could fail to export; footnote IDs now include a unique identifier to prevent collisions across merged articles.
• Abstract headings no longer drop from the output.

Export to XML 1.5

Released 20 July 2026

Improvements

• You can now export documents whose body content begins with a Poem or Poetry paragraph style; stanza breaks are preserved in the output.
• The export now uses the object ID prefixes configured in Orion Compass under Global Settings → Style Configuration → Object Prefixes.
• When figures, tables, or boxes are first cited in a range (for example, Figs 2–4) they now appear at that citation point in the output.
• You can now specify a custom attribute order for XML output elements.
• You can now set up rules to convert a character style into an XML element or processing instruction, or to remove it from the output entirely.

Fixes

• Labels in supplementary material captions now export as separate labels. Previously, the label text remained as part of the caption content.
• Boxes no longer export with extra empty sections wrapping their content, which could produce invalid XML.
• Fixed an issue where an equation in the middle of a paragraph was split into separate parts instead of exporting as a single inline element.
• The Apply XSL Transform action now includes custom message text in the job report.
• Subscript formatting is no longer lost when exporting to JATS.

Export to XML 1.4

Released 7 July 2026

Improvements

• The au_collab-type character style now exports correctly for collaborative authorship such as trial study groups.
• Export to XML now runs a cleanup step automatically after every export. This removes unfilled metadata placeholders, for example [DOI] and [Volume], and strips any character styles that aren't set up for export, while preserving their text.
• Boxes, figures, and tables can now contain content in any paragraph style—for example, a numbered list inside a box—without needing a dedicated style for each combination. To set this up correctly you can either use "box wrap" paragraphs at the start and end of the box, or list the style in the Box Caption Continued style set in Orion Compass.
• Special characters in your document (for example, symbols and accented letters) can now export as the character itself or as a Unicode value, matching your organisation's requirements. Previously, they always exported as the character itself.
• Custom character styles you apply now export to their correct JATS or BITS elements.

Export to XML 1.3

Released 23 June 2026

Improvements

• Export to XML now supports BITS 2.0 as an output format for book-structured content, including front matter, body, back matter, appendixes, and contributor metadata. For details, see Export to BITS XML.
• Five author metadata character styles that were previously dropped during export now export to their correct <contrib> child elements: name prefix (au_prefix), surname-only (au_surname-only), suffix (au_suffix), role (au_role), and inline affiliation (au_aff).
• Custom character styles, such as a publisher's red-text or species-name are now preserved in the XML output rather than being lost.
• Equations within a sentence now export as <inline-formula> rather than <disp-formula>. Previously, all equations used <disp-formula> regardless of context, which produced invalid XML.

Export to XML 1.2

Released 1 June 2026

Improvements

• Export to XML now uses SmartRefs 2.0 reference tags (tps.ref:) to set the publication type on <mixed-citation> elements, and Insert Tags markers (tps.tag:) to wrap content in custom XML snippets configured in Orion settings.
• An author can now be linked to more than one affiliation. Previously, only one affiliation per author was exported.
• When multiple authors share the same affiliation, they now all link to the same <aff> element rather than each generating a duplicate.
• Authors marked as corresponding are now correctly identified in the XML output with corresp="yes" on their <contrib> element.

Export to XML 1.1

Released 12 May 2026

Improvements

• Export now handles figures, tables, and boxes that are not numbered—for example, a single figure cited as "Figure" rather than "Figure 1". Previously, the export failed on unnumbered objects.
• When multiple objects are cited in the same paragraph, they now appear in the output in the order they are cited in the text.
• All bib_* paragraph styles now map to the correct child elements within <mixed-citation> (edition, date, conference, and others) matching eXtyles JATS output.
• You can now omit the DOCTYPE declaration when running Export to XML as part of a larger workflow.

Fixes

• Empty table cells are now exported correctly. Previously, empty cells were omitted, breaking table structure.
• Heading levels now export as correctly nested <sec> elements. Previously, headings at the same level were not generating the correct nesting structure.

Export to XML 1.0

Initial release. Export to XML delivered Export to JATS XML. See Export to JATS XML for more detail.