Example: How metadata elements cascade from one map to another

This section is non-normative.

In this scenario, a metadata element that is located in a map reference cascades to the topics that are referenced in a nested map.

Assume the following references in test.ditamap:
<map>
  <topicref href="a.ditamap" format="ditamap" toc="no"/>
  <mapref href="b.ditamap" audience="developer"/>
  <mapref href="c.ditamap#branch2" platform="myPlatform"/>
  <mapref href="d.ditamap" subjectrefs="puzzles"/>
</map>
  • The map a.ditamap is treated as if toc="no" is specified on the root <map> element. This means that the topics that are referenced by a.ditamap do not appear in the navigation generated by test.ditamap, except for branches within the map that explicitly set toc="yes".
  • The map b.ditamap is treated as if audience="developer" is set on the root <map> element. If the @audience attribute is already set on the root <map> element within b.ditamap, the value developer is added to any existing values.
  • The element with id="branch2" within the map c.ditamap is treated as if platform="myPlatform" is specified on that element. If the @platform attribute is already specified on the element with id="branch", the valuemyPlatform is added to existing values.
  • The map d.ditamap is treated as if subjectrefs="puzzles" is set on the root <map> element. If the @subjectrefs attribute is already set on the root <map> element within d.ditamap, the value puzzles is added to any existing values.