Frequently Asked Questions

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can topics be nested?

Forum topic: Submitted by carolgeyer on Mon, 2007-09-17 18:48.

Topics can be nested to create larger document structures. However, the nesting always occurs outside the content boundary, so that child and parent topics can be easily separated and reused in different contexts. Here is a sample nesting structure: <topic>
<title>A general topic</title>
<shortdesc>This general topic is pretty general.</shortdesc>
<body><p>General topics are not very specific. They are useful for
the big picture, but they don't get into details in the same way as

What is "progressive disclosure" in a topic?

Forum topic: Submitted by carolgeyer on Mon, 2007-09-17 18:47.

Because each topic has a title and short description in addition to its full content, applications can provide progressive disclosure. For example, a user can hover over a link to see its short description and then decide whether to follow the link for the rest of the topic. Progressive disclosure also allows topics to be meaningfully browsed in a variety of viewing contexts, whether full-screen browsers, integrated help panes, infopops, or PDA screens.

What do "info-typed" DITA topic examples look like?

Forum topic: Submitted by carolgeyer on Mon, 2007-09-17 18:46.

A small concept example:
A minimal topic for field description in a dialog might look like this: <concept id="username">
<title><var>username>/var> input field</title>
<shortdesc>Enter your name or the name of the user for whom you are creating a record.</shortdesc>
</concept>

What is the topic structure in the architecture?

Forum topic: Submitted by carolgeyer on Mon, 2007-09-17 18:45.

The topic structure has the following major parts:

What are the key principles of the DITA architecture?

Forum topic: Submitted by carolgeyer on Mon, 2007-09-17 18:42.

Topic orientation: Information covering one subject with a specific intent
Topic granularity: Discrete, self-contained units accessed independently
Topic sets: Deliverables assembled from a pool of available topics
Strong typing: Required structures with well-defined semantics for each kind of information — such as a Task with steps