How can I avoid reinstalling DITA-OT plugins when XSLT files in the plugin are changed?

[chrispy-snps]

My company has a DITA-OT plugin that binds multiple XSLT stylesheet files to various DITA-OT extension points:

This DITA-OT plugin is kept in our Git repository, and our DITA-OT installation references them directly from our Git repository using filesystem links.

If we add, remove, or rename any of these XSLT files, we must reinstall the DITA-OT plugins after pulling the updates. This is especially problematic when switching between different Git branches that have differences in their XSLT file structures.

Is there a way to avoid having to reinstall plugins when the XSLT files change?

[chrispy-snps]

When you run the dita install command, the DITA-OT rebuilds some internal information based on the <feature> file references. When <feature> file references are added, removed, or changed—even for a plugin that is already installed—then plugins must be reinstalled.

For many types of extension points (such as for strings and messages), plugin reinstallation is needed if the contents of a <feature>-referenced file change. However, this is not true for XSLT files, because their contents are imported via <xsl:import> instead of copied. As a result, plugin reinstallation is needed only if the XSLT file names are added/removed/changed, but not if their contents are changed.

Thus, you can restructure your plugin to have a single top-level XSLT file for each extension point, whose only purpose is to include the other XSLT files used by the plugin:

When this structure is used, there is no need for DITA-OT plugin reinstallation if any submodule XSLT files are added, changed, or removed. The inclusions in each top-level file can change as needed, but the <feature> reference to it will remain static.