Tips and techniques

How can I combine several topics into a single document?

The DITA design has a unified content reuse mechanism by which an element can replace itself with the content of a like element elsewhere, either in the current topic or in a separate topic that shares the same content models. The distinction between reusable content and reusing content, often a problem for authors trying to use file and text entities, disappears: Any element with an ID, in any DITA topic, is reusable by conref.

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The Map Architecture of DITA

Learn about DITA Maps and how you can use them to organize topics for different purposes.

What is a DITA map?

Maps let you organize topics that you want to build into an output web or PDF. You can also generate navigation files based on the map structure, and generate links that get added to the topics.

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The topic architecture of DITA

What is a topic?

A topic is a chunk of information organized around a single subject. Structurally, it is a title followed by text and images, optionally organized into sections. Topics can be of many different types, the most common being concepts, tasks, and reference.

Why use topics?

Topics are the basis for high-quality information. They should be short enough to be easily readable, but long enough to make sense on their own.

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General DITA Questions

Why is "Darwin" in the name of this architecture?

The entire name of the architecture has this combined explanation:

1. Darwin: it uses the principles of specialization and inheritance
2. Information Typing: it capitalizes on the semantics of topics (concept, task, reference) and of content (messages, typed phrases, semantic tables)
3. Architecture: it provides vertical headroom (new applications) and edgewise extension (specialization into new types) for information

This architecture supports the proper construction of specialized DTDs from any higher-level DTD or schema. The base DTD is ditabase DTD, which contains an archetype topic structure and three additional peer topics that are typed specializations from the basic topic: concept, task, and reftopic. The principles of specialization and inheritance resemble the principle of variation in species proposed by Charles Darwin. So the name reminds us of the key extensibility mechanism inherent in the architecture.

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The following FAQ has been used as a handout at recent conferences.

DITA Fact Sheet

What is DITA?

The Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) is an XML-based, end-to-end architecture for authoring, producing, and delivering readable information as discrete, typed topics.

What is DITA good for?

• Managing readable information
• Reusing information in many different combinations and deliverables
• Creating online information systems such as User Assistance (help) or web resource
• Creating minimalist books for easier authoring and use

These terms keep coming up in DITA conversations; what do they mean?

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