Display attributes is a parameter entity declaration in the topic
DTD that includes attributes whose values may be used for affecting the display
of a topic or its selection by search tools.
Relational attributes (<%rel-atts;>) is a
parameter entity declaration in the topic DTD that includes attributes whose
values may be used for representing navigational relationships. These attributes
occur only on elements that represent relationships between topics.
ID attributes (%id-atts;) is a parameter entity declaration in the
topic DTD that includes attributes that enable the naming and referencing
of elements in a DITA topic: id and conref .
Attributes that support both filtering and flagging include platform, product, audience, and otherprops. Attribute rev only
lets you flag information that matches a run-time parameter. Attribute importance currently
provides output effects only for steps (where only the values "optional" and
"required" are supported).
Universal attributes is a parameter entity declaration in the topic DTD that
includes all of the attributes in the select-atts and id-atts attribute groups.
Debugging attributes, normally hidden from authoring view.
The <topic> element is the top-level DITA
element for a single-subject topic or article. Other top-level DITA elements
that are more content-specific are <concept>, <task>,
and <reference>.
The <no-topic-nesting> element is a placeholder
in the DITA architecture. It is not actually used by the DITA DTDs; it is
for use only when creating a customized DTD where the information designer
wants to eliminate the ability to nest topics. Not for use by authors.
The <title> element contains a heading or
label for the main parts of a document such as <topic>, <section>, and
<example> and for the display elements such as figure (<fig>)
and <table>.
The alternate title element (<titlealts>)
is optional, but can occur after the topic title. Two elements can be inserted
as sub-elements of <titlealts>: navigation title <navtitle>
and search title <searchtitle>. When your DITA topic
is transformed to XHTML, the <searchtitle> element is
used to create a title element at the top of the resulting XHTML file. This
title may differ from the first level heading that shows in the main browser
window. In HTML output, the <navtitle> may be used to
create navigation panels when your DITA topics are part of an HTML-based help
or information system. The design intent is to enable navigation for HTML
Help and Eclipse help systems.
The navigation title (<navtitle>) element
is one of a set of alternate titles that can be included inside the <titlealts>
element. This navigation title may differ from the first level heading that
shows in the main browser window. Use <navtitle> when
the actual title of the topic isn't appropriate for use in navigation panes
or online contents (for example, because the actual title is too long or needs
stated in terse, imperative voice in the navigation).
When your DITA topic is transformed to XHTML, the <searchtitle>
element is used to create a title element at the top of the resulting HTML
file. This title is normally used in search result summaries by some search
engines, such as that in Eclipse (http://eclipse.org); if not set, the XHTML's
title element defaults to the source topic's title content (which may not
be as well optimized for search summaries)
The short description (<shortdesc>) element
occurs between the topic title and the topic body, as the initial paragraph-like
content of a topic. The short description, which represents the purpose or
theme of the topic, is also intended to be used as a link preview and for
searching.
The <body> element is the container for the
main content of a <topic>.
The <section> element represents an organizational
division in a topic. Sections are used to organize subsets of information
that are directly related to the topic. For example, the titles Reference
Syntax, Example and Properties might represent section-level
discourse within a topic about a command-line process—the content in each
section relates uniquely to the subject of that topic. Multiple sections within
a single topic do not represent a hierarchy, but rather peer divisions of
that topic. Sections cannot be nested. A section may have an optional title.
The <example> element is a section with the
specific role of containing examples that illustrate or support the current
topic. The <example> element has the same content model
as <section>.
The <keyword> element identifies a keyword
or token, such as a single value from an enumerated list, the name of a command
or parameter, or a lookup key for a message (contrast with term).
The <desc> element contains the description
of the current element. A description should provide more information than
the title.
The <prolog> element contains information
about the topic as an whole (for example, author information or subject category)
that is either entered by the author or machine-maintained. Much of the metadata
inside the <prolog> will not be displayed with the topic
on output, but may be used by processes that generate search indexes or customize
navigation.
The <metadata> section of the prolog contains
information about a topic such as audience and product information. Metadata
can be used by computational processes to select particular topics or to prepare
search indexes or to customize navigation.
The related information links of a topic (<related-links>
element) are stored in a special section following the body of the topic.
After a topic is processed into it final output form, the related links are
usually displayed at the end of the topic, although some Web-based help systems
might display them in a separate navigation frame.
The <linklist> element defines an author-arranged
group of links. Within <linklist>, the organization
of links on final output is in the same order as originally authored in the
DITA topic file.
The <linkinfo> element allows you to place
a descriptive paragraph following a list of links in a linklist element.
The <linkpool> element defines a group of
links that have common characteristics, such as type or audience or source.
Within <linkpool>, the organization of links on final
output is determined by the output process, not by the order that the links
actually occur in the DITA topic file.
The <linktext> element provides the literal
label or line of text for a link. In most cases, the text of a link can be
resolved during processing by cross reference with the target resource. Use
the <linktext> element only when the target cannot be
reached, such as when it is a peer or external link.
The <link> element defines a relationship
to another topic. Links represent the types and roles of topics in a web of
information, and therefore represent navigational links within that web. The
parent structures of link allow authors to define named groups and even sort
orders that can be applied to sets of links.
The phrase (<ph>) element is used to organize
content for reuse or conditional processing (for example, when part of a paragraph
applies to a particular audience). It can be used by future specializations
of DITA to apply specific processing or formatting to marked up phrases.
var & keyword defined by syntax diagram
The <term> element identifies words that
represent extended definitions or explanations. In future development of DITA,
for example, terms might provide associative linking to matching glossary
entries.
Inline content (prhases)
The trademark (<tm>) element in DITA is used
to markup and identify a term or phrase that is trademarked. Trademarks include
registered trademarks, service marks, slogans and logos.
( Deprecated ) - The <boolean> element is used to express
one of two opposite values, such as yes or no, on or off, true or false, high
or low, and so forth. The element itself is empty; the value of the element
is stored in its state attribute, and
the semantic associated with the value is typically in a specialized name
derived from this element. If you need more than two values (for example,
"yes," "no" and "don't care") use the <state>
element instead. This element is primarily for specialization, where
it can be used to require a logical true or false designation in a particular
part of the document.
The <state> element specifies a name/value
pair whenever it is necessary to represent a named state that has a variable
value. The element is primarily intended for use in specializations to represent
specific states (like logic circuit states, chemical reaction states, airplane
instrumentation states, and so forth).
A paragraph element (<p>) is a block of
text containing a single main idea.
TThe long quote (<lq>) element indicates
content quoted from another source. Use the quote element <q>for
short, inline quotations, and long quote <lq> for quotations
that are too long for inline use, following normal guidelines for quoting
other sources. You can store a URL to the source of the quotation in the href attribute.
A <note> element contains information, differentiated
from the main text, which expands on or calls attention to a particular point.
A quotation element (<q>) indicates content quoted from another
source. This element is used for short quotes which are displayed inline.
Use the long quote element (<lq>) for quotations that should be set off
from the surrounding text.
In an unordered list (<ul>), the order of the list items is
not significant. List items are typically styled on output with a "bullet"
character, depending on nesting level.
An ordered list (<ol>) is a list of items sorted by sequence
or order of importance.
The <sl> element contains a simple list of
items of short, phrase-like content, such as in documenting the materials
in a kit or package.
A simple list item (<sli>) is a single item in a simple list<sl>.
Simple list items have phrase or text content, adequate for describing package
contents, for example. When a DITA topic is formatted for output, the items
of a simple list are placed each on its own line, with no other prefix such
as a number (as in an ordered list) or bullet (as in an unordered list)..
A list (<li>) item is a single item in an ordered <ol> or
unordered <ul> list. When a DITA topic is formatted for output, numbers
and alpha characters are usually output with list items in ordered lists,
while bullets and dashes are usually output with list items in unordered lists.
The <itemgroup> element is reserved for specialization
of DITA. As a container element, it can be used to sub-divide or organize
elements that occur inside a list item, definition, or parameter definition.
A definition list (<dl>) is a list of terms
and corresponding definitions. The term (<dt>) is usually
flush left. The description or definition (<dt>) is
usually either indented and on the next line, or on the same line to the right
of the term.
The <dlhead> element contains optional headings
for the term and description columns in a definition list. The definition
list heading contains a heading <dthd> for the column
of terms and an optional heading <ddhd>for the column
of descriptions.
The definition descriptions heading (<ddhd>) element contains
an optional heading or title for a column of descriptions or definitions in
a definition list
The definition term heading (<dthd>) element is contained in
a definition list head (<dlhead>) and provides an optional heading for
the column of terms in a description list.
In a definition list, each list item is defined by the definition
list entry (<dlentry>) element. The definition list entry element includes
a term <dt> and one or more definitions or descriptions <dd> of that
term.
The definition term <dt> element contains
a term in a definition list entry.
The definition description (<dd>) element
contains the description of a term in a definition list entry.
The figure (<fig>) element is a display context
(sometimes called an exhibit
) with an optional title for a wide variety
of content. Most commonly, the figure element contains an image element (a
graphic or artwork), but it can contain several kinds of text objects as well.
A title is placed inside the figure element to provide a caption to describe
the content.
The <figgroup> element is used only for specialization
at this time. Figure groups can be used to contain multiple cross-references,
footnotes or keywords, but not multipart images. Multipart images in DITA
should be represented by a suitable media type displayed by the <object>
element.
The preformatted element (<pre>) preserves
line breaks and spaces entered manually by the author in the content of the
element, and also presents the content in a monospaced type font (depending
on your output formatting processor).
The <lines> element may be used to represent
dialogs, lists, text fragments, and so forth. The <lines>
element is similar to <pre> in that hard line breaks
are preserved, but the font style is not set to monospace, and extra spaces
inside the lines are not preserved.
Include artwork or images in a DITA topic by using the <image>
element. The <image> element has optional attributes
that indicate whether the placement of the included graphic or artwork should
be inline (like a button or icon), or on a separate line for a larger image.
An href attribute is required on the image element,
as this attribute creates a pointer to the image, and allows the output formatting
processor to bring the image into the text flow. To make the intent of the
image more accessible for users using screen readers or text-only readers,
always include a description of the image's content in the alt attribute.
The alt element provides an element equivalent of the alt attribute
on the image element. As an element, it provides direct text entry within
an XML editor and is more easily accessed than an attribute for translation.
DITA's <object> element corresponds to the
HTML <object> element. The <object>
element allows authors to include animated images, applets, plug-ins, ActiveX
controls, video clips, and other multimedia objects in a topic for rendering
after transformation to HTML.
The parameter (<param>)element specifies
a set of values that may be required by an <object>
at runtime. Any number of <param> elements may appear
in the content of an object in any order, but must be placed at the start
of the content of the enclosing object. This element is comparable to the
XHMTL <param> element.
The <simpletable> element is used for tables
that are regular in structure and do not need a caption. Choose the simple
table element when you want to show information in regular rows and columns.
For example, multi-column tabular data such as phone directory listings or
parts lists are good candidates for simpletable. Another good use of simpletable
is for information that seems to beg for a "three-part definition list"—just
use the keycol attribute to indicate which column represents the "key" or
term-like column of your structure.
The simpletable header (<sthead>) element contains the table's
header row. The header row is optional in a simple table.
The <simpletable> row (<strow>)
element specifies a row in a simple table, like row in a conventional table.
The simpletable entry (<stentry>) element represents a single
table cell, like <entry> in <table>. You can place any number of stentry
cells in either an sthead element
(for headings) or strow element (for
rows of data).
The <draft-comment> element allows simple
review and discussion of topic contents within the marked-up content. Use
the <draft-comment> element to ask a question or make a comment that you
would like others to review. To indicate the source of the draft comment or
the status of the comment, use the author, time or disposition attributes.
A <required-cleanup> element is used as a
placeholder for migrated elements that cannot be appropriately tagged without
manual intervention. As the element name implies, the intent for authors is
to clean up the contained material and eventually get rid of the <required-cleanup>
element. Authors should not insert this element into documents.
Use footnote (<fn>) to annotate text with
notes that are not appropriate for inclusion in line or to indicate the source
for facts or other material used in the text.
An <indextermref> is a reference to an index
entry in a lookup table used by the indexing process. If you want to create
index markers pointing to referenced items, but only want page numbers instead
of separate index entries to be generated, use the index term reference <indextermref>
element. This adds the page number of the reference to the index without creating
a separate index entry.
The <cite> element is used when you need
a bibliographic citation that refers to a book or article. It specifically
identifies the title of the resource. Its keyref attribute
allows the citation to be associated to other possible bibliographic processing
(not supported yet).
Use the cross-reference (<xref>) element
to link to a different location within the current topic, or a different topic
within the same help system or DITA document. You can also point to external
sources, such as Web pages, or to a location in another topic as well. The href attribute
on the <xref> element is used to create the link pointer,
or URL.
The class attribute supports specialization. Its predefined values help
the output transforms work correctly with ranges of related content.