<choicetable>

A choice table provides information about a set of options for completing a step.

Usage information

A choice table provides information when there is more than one way to complete a step. It is a simple table with two columns. The first cell in a row labels the option, and the second cell in the row describes the option that a user can take to complete the step.

An optional header row can provide labels for the columns, if an author does not want to use the default labels that might be provided by stylesheets.

Rendering expectations

If a choice table does not contain a header row, processors typically auto-generate labels for the columns in the choice table. The text for the labels is specified in stylesheets.

Specialization hierarchy

The <choicetable> element is specialized from <simpletable>. It is defined in the task module.

Attributes

The following attributes are available on this element: universal attributes, display attributes, and simpletable attributes.

For this element, the @keycol attribute has a default value of 1.

The following attributes are available on this element: universal attributes and the attributes defined below.

@expanse (display attributes)
Specifies the horizontal placement of the element. The following values are valid:
column
Indicates that the element is aligned with the current column margin.
page
Indicates that the element is placed on the left page margin for left-to-right presentation or the right page margin for right-to-left presentation.
spread
Indicates that the object is rendered across a multi-page spread. If the output format does not have anything that corresponds to spreads, then spread has the same meaning as page.
textline
Indicates that the element is aligned with the left (for left-to-right presentation) or right (for right-to-left presentation) margin of the current text line and takes indentation into account.
-dita-use-conref-target
See Using the -dita-use-conref-target value for more information.

For <table>, in place of the @expanse attribute that is used by other DITA elements, the @pgwide attribute is used in order to conform to the OASIS Exchange Table Model.

Some processors or output formats might not support all values.

@frame (display attributes)
Specifies which portion of a border surrounds the element. The following values are valid:
all
Indicates that a line is rendered at the top, bottom, left, and right of the containing element.
bottom
Indicates that a line is rendered at the bottom of the containing element.
none
Indicates that no lines are rendered.
sides
Indicates that a line is rendered at the left and right of the containing element.
top
Indicates that a line is rendered at the top of the containing element.
topbot
Indicates that a line is rendered at the top and bottom of the containing element.
-dita-use-conref-target
See Using the -dita-use-conref-target value for more information.

Some processors or output formats might not support all values.

@keycol (simpletable attributes)
Specifies the column that contains the content that represents the key to the tabular structure. If @keycol is present and assigned a numerical value, the specified column is treated as a vertical header.
For this element, the @keycol attribute has a default value of 1.
@relcolwidth (simpletable attributes)
Specifies the width of each column in relationship to the width of the other columns. The value is a space-separated list of relative column widths. Each column width is specified as a positive integer or decimal number followed by an asterisk character.

For example, the value relcolwidth="1* 2* 3*" gives a total of 6 units across three columns. The relative widths are 1/6, 2/6, and 3/6 (16.7%, 33.3%, and 50%). Similarly, the value relcolwidth="90* 150*" causes relative widths of 90/240 and 150/240 (37.5% and 62.5%).

@scale (display attributes)
Specifies the percentage by which fonts are resized in relation to the normal text size. The value of this attribute is a positive integer. When used on <table> or <simpletable>, the following values are valid: 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120, 140, 160, 180, 200, and -dita-use-conref-target.

This attribute is primarily useful for print-oriented display. Some processors might not support all values.

If the @scale attribute is specified on an element that contains an image, the image is not scaled. The image is scaled only if a scaling property is explicitly specified for the <image> element.

Examples

This section is non-normative.

This section contains examples of how the <choicetable> element can be used.

Example 1. Simple choice table

The following code sample contains a <choicetable> element that is used to explain the options that a user can take to cancel a job:

<step>
  <cmd>Select the option that you want:</cmd>
  <choicetable relcolwidth="1* 2*">
    <chrow>
      <choption>Cancel job</choption>
      <chdesc>The application attempts to cancel the job gracefully.
              The job might not be completely canceled, although the job
              status is "Canceled".</chdesc>
    </chrow>
    <chrow>
      <choption>Force the job to cancel</choption>
      <chdesc>The application will force the job to be canceled. This
              might result in a mismatch between the state file and the
              actual resource state.</chdesc>
    </chrow>
  </choicetable>
</step>

The choice table might be rendered in the following way. Note that the labels for the columns are contributed by the stylesheets that are used by the processor.



Example 2. Choice table with a header row

The following code sample contains a <choicetable> element that contains a header row. The choice table is used to provide users with instructions for creating a filter using either the command line or the graphical user interface. The header row is used to specify column labels of "Option" and "Action".

<step>
  <cmd>Create a new filter:</cmd>
  <choicetable>
    <chhead>
      <choptionhd>Option</choptionhd>
      <chdeschd>Action</chdeschd>
    </chhead>
    <chrow>
      <choption>Command-line interface</choption>
      <chdesc>Type <codeph>arg -f filter</codeph></chdesc>
    </chrow>
    <chrow>
      <choption>Product GUI</choption>
      <chdesc>Click <uicontrol>New Filter</uicontrol></chdesc>
    </chrow>
  </choicetable>
</step>

The choice table might be rendered in the following way: