DITA maps and their usage
New topic cluster to hold normative architectural content about DITA maps. Currently holds notes about material that we intend to cover in the new topic cluster.
Topical areas
- How
<topicref>elements establish hierarchies including parent/child relationships and next/previous relationships. - Map-group elements
- Role as convenience elements—in most (all?) cases, the same function can be accomplished with
base elements. For example,
<topichead>is effectively no different than<topicref>with nothing but a title. - Special role of
<topicgroup>, which does not contribute to hierarchy
- Role as convenience elements—in most (all?) cases, the same function can be accomplished with
base elements. For example,
- How relationship tables establish linking relationships between topic references
- Meaning of titles (and navigation titles) on maps, submaps, mapgroup elements, and relationship tables
- Link relationships created by attributes and nesting in DITA maps
Current topics with applicable content
| Topic | Applicable content |
|---|---|
| 3.4.5.1 Example: DITA map that references a subordinate map | Resolution of a submap. |
| 3.4.5.2 Example: DITA map with a simple relationship table | How links are generated from a relationship table; how processors might represent a relationship table. |
3.4.5.3 Example: How the @collection-type and @linking
determine links |
Effect of @collection-type and @linking attributes on
generated links. |
| 6.1 Navigation | Container topic; incorporate into new "DITA maps and their usage" cluster. |
| 6.1.1 Table of contents | All content is applicable and needs to be incorporated into the new "DITA maps and their usage" cluster – Closest thing we currently have to a topic about how maps create hierarchies. |
9.3.1.1 <map> |
Relationships between topics created by map hierarchy or @collection-type
attribute; role of titles, especially in submaps. |
9.3.1.2 <topicref> |
Role of <topicref> nesting in creating containment hierarchies and
parent-child relationships. |
9.3.1.6 <reltable> |
Relationship table titles – Processing expectations for relationship tables (not rendered,
used to generate links) – Within a map tree, the effective relationship table is the union of all relationship tables in the map.– How a DITA-aware tool might represent the <reltable> element graphically. |
9.3.1.10 <relcolspec> |
How labels for related links from a relationship table are generated. |
9.3.2.3 <mapref> |
The hierarchy of the referenced map is merged into the container map at the position of the reference, and the relationship tables of the child map are added to the parent map. |
9.3.2.4 <topicgroup> |
How processors handle navigation titles within <topicgroup>
elements. |
9.8.13.10 The @format attribute |
How processors determine the value of the @format attribute when it is not
explicitly set. |
Possible new topics
- DITA maps
- Relationship tables
- Creating navigational hierarchies
- Defining links between resources