Definition of DITA maps
DITA maps are documents that organize topics and other resources into structured collections of information. DITA maps specify hierarchy and the relationships among the topics; they also provide the contexts in which keys are defined and resolved.
Maps draw on a rich set of existing best practices and standards for defining information models, such as hierarchical task analysis. They also support the definition of non-hierarchical relationships, such as matrices and groups, which provide a set of capabilities that has similarities to Resource Description Framework (RDF) and ISO topic maps.
DITA maps use <topicref> elements to reference DITA topics, DITA maps, and
non-DITA resources, for example, HTML and plain text files. The
<topicref> elements can be nested or grouped
to create relationships among the referenced topics, maps, and non-DITA
files; the <topicref> elements can be organized into
hierarchies in order to represent a specific order of navigation or
presentation.
DITA maps impose an architecture on a set of topics. Information architects can use DITA maps to specify what DITA topics are needed to support a given set of user goals and requirements; the sequential order of the topics; and the relationships that exist among those topics. Because DITA maps provide this context for topics, the topics themselves can be relatively context-free; they can be used and reused in multiple different contexts.
DITA maps establish relationships through the nesting of <topicref>
elements and the application of the @collection-type
attribute. Relationship tables also can be used to associate topics with
each other based on membership in the same row; for example, task topics can
be associated with supporting concept and reference topics by placing each
group in cells of the same row. During processing, these relationships can
be rendered in different ways, although they typically result in lists of
"Related topics" or "For more information" links. Like many aspects of DITA,
the details about how such linking relationships are presented is determined
by the DITA processor.
DITA maps also define keys and organize the contexts (key scopes) in which key references are resolved.
With tech comm becoming a separate spec, is it really correct to say "The DITA specification provides...book maps"? We could say "The DITA specifications provide" (plural)? That seems simpler for an overview topic than trying to explain "This package has one specialization and another package [out later] has book maps"