<val>

The <val> element is the root element of a DITAVAL document.

Processing expectations

For information about processing DITAVAL documents, including how to filter or flag elements with multiple property attributes or multiple properties within a single attribute, see Conditional processing.

Content model

<style-conflict>?, (<prop> | <revprop>)*

Not contained by any element.

In order
  1. Optional <style-conflict>
  2. Zero or more of the following
    • <prop>
    • <revprop>

Not contained by any element.

Attributes

None

Example

This section is non-normative.

This section contains examples of DITAVAL documents and how they can be used.

Example 1. Sample DITAVAL document

The following code sample shows a DITAVAL document that excludes certain content, flags certain content, flags certain revisions, and provides a background color for when there are style conflicts:

<val>
  <style-conflict background-conflict-color="red"/>
  <prop action="exclude" att="audience" val="internal-test"/>
  <prop action="flag" att="product" val="YourProd" backcolor="purple"/>
  <prop action="flag" att="product" backcolor="blue"
        color="yellow" style="underline" val="MyProd">
    <startflag imageref="startflag.jpg">
      <alt-text>This is the start of my product info</alt-text>
    </startflag>
    <endflag imageref="endflag.jpg">
      <alt-text>This is the end of my product info</alt-text>
    </endflag>
  </prop>
  <revprop action="flag" val="1.2"/>
</val>
This sample DITAVAL document performs the following actions:
  • Elements that specify audience="internal-test" are excluded.
  • Elements that specify product="YourProd" are rendered with a background color of purple.
  • Elements with product="MyProd" get the following actions:
    • The image startflag.jpg is placed at the start of the element.
    • The image endflag.jpg is placed at the end of the element.
    • The element is rendered with a background color of blue.
    • The text in the element is rendered in yellow, and the text is underlined.
  • Elements marked with rev="1.2" are flagged with the default revision flags, which are implementation dependent.
  • When there are conflicts, for example, if an element is marked with product="MyProd YourProd", it will be flagged with a background color of red.
Example 2. DITAVAL document that overrides the default include action

The following code sample shows a DITAVAL document that sets a default value of exclude for every conditional-processing attribute. That default value is then overriden by the <prop> elements with a value of include.

<val>
  <prop action="exclude"/>
  <prop action="include" att="audience" val="everybody"/>
  <prop action="include" att="audience" val="novice"/>
  <prop action="include" att="product" val="productA"/>
  <prop action="include" att="product" val="productB"/>
</val>
This DITAVAL document performs the following actions:
  • The first <prop> element does not specify an attribute, which sets a default action of exclude for every conditional-processing attribute. This means that, by default, any property value not otherwise defined in this document evaluates to exclude. Note that this same behavior can be limited to a single attribute. The following <prop> element sets a default action of exclude for all properties specified on the @platform attribute: <prop action="exclude" att="platform"/>
  • The second and third <prop> elements set an action of include for two values on the @audience attribute. All other values on the @audience attribute still evaluate to exclude.
  • The fourth and fifth <prop> elements set an action of include for two values on the @product attribute. All other values on the @product attribute still evaluate to exclude.