In the previous examples we have used the view mode function on a book but you can also apply it separately to one or more chapters or even to individual topics. Always keep in mind that the active view mode will never show you a work instance of an object. The latest view mode on the other hand could show you a mixture of active instances and work instances. And sometimes this behavior can surprise you.

Consider the following example where the 'Topic: About the eagle' shows activated content in the latest view mode.

An active topic shown in the latest view mode

The topic contains an image from the project gallery. Assume you have changed (reloaded) that image directly in the project gallery without publishing it. Then you would see the topic in the following way.

An active topic in latest view mode showing the work instance of an image

Here you see a mixture of active content and work content in a topic. To have a view on the complete active content you could switch the entire book or containing chapter to the active view mode and then drill down to the topic. However, you can also popup the menu of the topic and select 'View mode>Active' and then you see the complete active content of the topic as shown in the next image.

An active topic shown in the active view mode

The moment a folder or a topic has an active instance it is possible to switch it to the active view mode. The ability to switch the view mode of individual topics can come in very handy during your editing work.

The view mode is applicable to almost any object in the Workbench except for the objects that are not meant for the user community such as 'Workflow management', 'Lexicons' and 'Pending check outs'. The 'Project gallery' and its dependent folders however, are an exception to this rule because these folders hold objects (snippets, files, etc) that are meant for the user community. So, the view mode is also applicable to the project gallery folders.

The next image shows the image objects of the project gallery in the active view mode.

Image objects of the project gallery in the active view mode