`<glossentry>`

The <glossentry> element is the top-level element for a topic that defines a glossary term.

Rendering expectations

Because the glossary entry specialization is designed for multiple purposes, it contains elements that typically are not intended to be rendered when a glossary is generated. In addition, when a collection of glossary entry topics is rendered as authoring guidance, generated text might be required for ease of reading. Specialized style sheets and processing are needed to ensure useful output.

Processing expectations

Processing expectations for glossary entry topics are highly implementation-specific and will depend on the output format.

For HTML-based output formats, one possible implementation of glossary entry topics is to generate hyperlinks for <term> elements that are associated by key reference with the glossary entry topic. The term definition might be displayed when someone hovers over or clicks on the hyperlink.

For PDF output, one possible implementation of glossary entry topics is to render acronyms or expanded acronyms for <abbreviated-form> elements that are associated by key reference with the glossary entry topics. The surface form is rendered on first usage, and the acronym is rendered on second or later usage.

Specialization hierarchy

The <glossentry> element is specialized from <concept>; it is defined in the glossary entry module. The <concept> element is specialized from <topic>; it is defined in the concept module.

Attributes

The following attributes are available on this element: architectural attributes and universal attributes.

For this element, the @id attribute is required.

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

@DITAArchVersion (architectural attributes): Specifies the version of the DITA architecture that is in use. This attribute is in the namespace http://dita.oasis-open.org/architecture/2005/. This attribute is specified in the topic and map modules, and it uses a default value of the current version of DITA. The current default is 2.0.
@id: For this element, the @id attribute is required.
@specializations (architectural attributes): Specifies the attribute-domain specializations that are included in the document-type shell. This attribute is set as a default within the document-type shell. The value varies depending on what domains are integrated into the document-type shell. For example, a grammar file that includes the specialized attributes @audience, @deliveryTarget, and @newBaseAtt would set the value to @props/audience @props/deliveryTarget @base/newBaseAtt.
@xmlns:ditaarch (architectural attributes): Declares the default DITA namespace. This namespace is declared as such in the RNG modules for <topic> and <map>, but it is specified as an attribute in the equivalent DTD-based modules. The value is fixed to http://dita.oasis-open.org/architecture/2005/.

Example

This section is non-normative.

The following code samples shows how a glossary entry topic provides information about a term that aids in terminology management:

<glossentry id="usbfd">
  <glossterm>USB flash drive</glossterm>
  <glossdef>A small portable drive.</glossdef>
  <glossBody>
    <glossUsage>Do not use this term in upper case (for example,  in "USB Flash Drive")
      because that suggests a trademark.</glossUsage>
    <glossAlt>
      <glossAcronym>UFD</glossAcronym>
    </glossAlt>
    <glossAlt id="memoryStick">
      <glossSynonym>memory stick</glossSynonym>
      <glossUsage>This is a colloquial term.</glossUsage>
    </glossAlt>
  </glossBody>
</glossentry>