Hi! I'm using xref to link another topic to the existing one; I use DITAOT to publish these topics using two ways: the first is to include both topics into the ditamap; the second is just to publish the first topic. The produced result is different: the link to the second topic is clickable and leads to the second topic included into the pdf as an internal element when a ditamap is used. But if I use just a topic for publishing the second topic is not included into the result pdf as an internal element.

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When documenting programming languages we commonly include code snippets within the documentation to illustrate how to go about doing something. In HTML this would usually include <PRE> or <CODE> tags to inform the browser that we want to see this snippet in a non-proportional font with the white space preserved.

However, modern programming tools go one better and now markup this text with colour to assist with readability. So, rather than just displaying a block of black text they display something like this:

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Specialization is the process of creating new categories of topics, or information types, as well as new categories of elements, or domain types. You can define these new types using the existing ones as a base. For example, a product group might identify three main types of reference topic - messages, utilities, and APIs - and define three domains - networking, programming, and databases.

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With information types, you can divide topics into categories that you can manage and keep consistent more easily than without information types. Information types also make it easier for users to find the information that they are looking for: how-to information in a task versus background information in a concept versus detailed specifications in a reference topic.

An information type describes a category of topics, such as concepts, tasks, or reference. Typically, different information types support different kinds of content. For example, a task typically has a set of steps, whereas a reference topic has a set of customary sections, such as syntax, properties, and usage.