A synchronous control file exists alongside content in the same archive, as opposed to an asynchronous control file that exists independently from the content in a separate archive.
It is possible to use a synchronous control file to manage content as follows:
- Create a control file, or edit an existing one.
- In the
<filePath>element, specify the filepath of the DITA map to be modified. - If a DITAVAL is available for the ditamap, specify the DITAVAL's filepath in the
<instance>element.
- For DITA maps with one or more DITAVAL files, it is necessary to target the DITAVAL's
<originId>in the<instance>attribute. - When at least one
<instance>attribute is set, it is no longer possible to target an<originId>in the control file's<resource>element.
When an <instance> attribute is set, modifications apply to every instance, but they do not apply to <topic> nodes.
For an example, see the Update document metadata topic in the Fluid Topics Control File Technical Note.