DITA Flashcards
What does DITA stand for?
Darwin Information Typing Architecture
What file type organises dita topics?
Dita maps
What is the basic building block for DITA information?
The topic
What are the 3 basic DITA topic types?
Concept (what is?)
Task (how to?)
Reference (reference)
What are the 2 types of references most commonly used in DITA?
Key reference (product names, etc.) Content reference (warnings, notices, etc.)
Who created DITA and when?
IBM created DITA in 2005. It was donated to OASIS
What language is DITA based on?
XML
What provides additional information about a XML tag?
Attributes and its value
tag attribute=”value” /tag
Where are XML tags defined?
In a different file
What are called tag names in DITA?
Elements
What is the name of the 3 most common root tags in DITA?
Concept, task, reference
What is a necessary attribute for a topic tag?
id (ex: topic id=”sample”)
What element provides a 2-3 sentence summary of the topic content?
shortdesc
What element provides the title of a topic?
title
What element provides the bulk of information of a topic?
body
What are the two task types provided by DITA?
Strict task
General task
What is information about information called?
Metadata
What is a common attribute to include language of a topic?
xml:lang=”en-us”
Ex: topic id=”123” xml:lang=”en-us”
What element allows you to store metadata for the entire topic?
prolog
What is used to specify metadata on the element level?
attributes
On the map level, where do you specify the metadata of a referenced topic?
topicref
ex: topicref href=”abc.dita” audience=”novice”
What are the 3 default attribules that support filtering or conditional processing?
Audience
Product
Platform
What does a basic DITA topic require?
XML declaration (?xml version=”1.0” encoding=”UTF-8”?)
DOCTYPE declaration !DOCTYPE topic PUBLIC “-//OASIS//DTD DITA Topic//EN” “topic.dtd”
A topic topic id=”myfirsttopic”
id attribute on the topic id=”myfirsttopic”
Title title Hello world /title
What element lets you create notes, cautions, warnings, and other admonishments
note
What are the most common list types in DITA?
unordered list ( ul) ordered list ( ol )
What are the 2 types of tables included in DITA?
Simple tables (simpletable) Tables (table)
What are the 3 possible elements in simple tables?
sthead
strow
stentry
In a ditamap, what element provides a link to a specific topic?
topicref
In a ditamap, what element provides a link to another map?
mapref
In what language are most stylesheets of the DITA Open Toolkit written in?
XSL (Extensible Stylesheet Language)
What element is used to create links from text to other locations in text, figures, tables or websites?
xref href=”target”
What is safer than using xref?
Relationship tables (reltables)
Where are reltables located?
In the map file (usually at the end)
What element is used to reuse pieces of content?
conref
What is the DOCTYPE statement used for?
To identify the topic type (ex. Concept, task, etc.)
What is the ?xml statement used for?
Identify the file as an xml file
Should the ol element be used for step-by-step instructions?
No! The Task topic should be used instead
What attribute is used by the image element to create a link to the image’s location?
href
What element is used to add a caption to an image?
fig
What element is used to give a definition?
term
What element is used for a citation?
cite
What element is used for a word or phrase that may change based on the user’s circumstances?
varname
What element is used for subscript text?
sub
What element is used for superscript text?
sup
What element is used to add a footnote?
fn
What element is used to indicate the order of a menu path?
menucascade
then uicontrol
What elements contains a definition list (a list of terms with their corresponding definition)
dl (definition list)
dlentry (definition entry)
dt (definition term)
dd (definition definition)
What element is used to write pieces of code?
codeblock
What element is used to mark a single word or phrase as code inside a p element?
codeph (codephrase)
What element is used to include a quote from an outside source?
lq (long quote)
What element is used to divide body of a topic into subsections with individual titles?
section
What element allows the creation of a comment in the DITA code that won’t be rendered in the final transformation?
draft-comment
What element allows to wrap content that is tagged incorrectly?
required-cleanup
What optional element in a task describes what the reader needs before performing the task?
prereq
What optional element in a task provides background information about the task, like its purpose, etc.
context
What are the 4 main elements of steps within a task?
steps
step
cmd
info
What is an essential element of a step?
cmd
What is an optional element of a step?
info
What type of voice should be used in a cmd element?
Active voice
What do strict tasks only allow a single steps tag?
To ensure that the topic only describes how to perform one task
How many sentences should a cmd tag have in order to follow best practices?
One
In a task, how many info tags can be added after a cmd element?
Any number
What elements can be used when listing choices to the reader?
choices
choicetable
What element is used to add more detail to a step?
substeps
What element can be used to give step examples on how to perform a step in a task topic?
stepxmp
What element is used to describe the result of a step?
stepresult
What element is used to add comments between two steps in a task topic?
stepsection
What two elements can be used to add admonitions to the reader before a cmd element of a step in a task?
note
hazardstatement
What element is used to describe a completed task?
result
What element is used to show an example of an entire task?
example
What element tells you what to do once a task is completed?
postreq (postrequisites)
To what question do Reference topics answer?
What?
To what question does the Concept topic answer?
Why?
To what question does the Task topic answer?
How?
What 2 refbody elements are specific to the reference topic?
refsyn
properties
What element denotes the name of a command when referenced as a part of software?
cmdname
In the Reference topic type, what element used for code syntax is a specialization of the section element
refsyn
What elements are the preferred way to show syntax diagrams in the refsyn element?
synph (syntax phrase)
syntaxdiagram
What are the 4 most common sub-elements of the properties element?
property
proptype
propvalue
propdesc
The properties element is a specialization of what element?
simpletable
How do you call an element related to a specific field (like programming, etc)?
domain element
What topic type should be used to define a specific term or concept contained within your content?
Glossary entry topic
How do you call a file with multiple glossary entry topics?
glossary group
What is the root element of a glossary entry topic?
glossentry
What element is a glossterm a specialization of?
title
It is best practice to add what before the filename of a glossary entry?
g_
Where is it better to gather all glossary topics?
in a dita map file
What element is used to add a topic inside a map?
topicref
Where should maps be stored on your file system?
At the top level, since topicrefs cannot link to topics located above the map level.
What is the difference between a map and a bookmap?
Bookmaps provide elements to create book-like structures. (chapters, appendices, parts)
When is it generally preferable to use bookmaps instead of maps?
When your content is in print or PDF form.
What is the bookmap’s frontmatter element typically used for?
table of contents or preface
What is the bookmap’s backmatter element typically used for?
index or glossary
How many bookmap chapters can be nested inside bookmap chapters?
0
What element is used to add metadata to maps?
topicmeta
Which metadata takes precedence over the other, a topic metadata defined in a map’s topicref, or the referenced’ topic file’s metadata (e.g., prolog)?
The metadata defined in a map’s topicref
What frontmatter and backmatter element can be used for toc, indexlist or glossarylist?
booklists
What element inside the booklists element of a bookmap is used to say where to generate a table of contents?
toc
What bookmap element is used to generate an index at that location within the map?
indexlist
What element of a bookmap is used to change the title of a reused topic?
navtitle
What attribute of topicref in a bookmap should you change in order to use the navtitle element?
locktitle=”yes”
Why is the topichead element useful?
It helps you group topics together that are contextually related without implying a hierachical relationship
In what element can you find a reltable?
map or bookmap
Where are reltables located inside a map?
at the very end, just before the map or bookmap closing tag
In a reltable, what relcell attribute can be used to make the reltable cell topics relate one another?
collection-type=”family”
What attribute of a topicref in a reltable makes this topic only the target of other topics (i.e., you can have a link to topic B, but topic B will not have any links to other topics)
linking=”targetonly”
What attribute of a topicref in a reltable prevents this topic from being a target for other topics?
linking=”sourceonly”
How do you override the link types of recolspecs in reltables?
by adding a title tag in the relcospec element
What are the different reuse facilities offered by DITA?
topics and maps
fragments (conref)
variables (keys)
filtering (conditions)
What type of reuse involves pulling shared pieces of content, usually elements?
Fragment (conrefs)
What type of reuse is best suited for company names, product names, URLs, or filenames?
Variables (keys)
What type of reuse is best suited to selectively remove certain pieces of content, based on different conditions, to create product- or customer-specific deliverables?
Filtering (conditions)
What attribute do you need to use when you reuse a topic multiple times in a single map?
copy-to=”first_copy.dita”
copy-to=”second_copy.dita
What element could be the best example of a reusable element using a conref?
note
What are the two parts of a conref?
a referenced element
a referencing element
What attribute is necessary for conref referenced elements?
ID
What are the four basic conditional attributes used for content filtering?
audience
platform
product
otherprops (custom aspect)
How do you specify multiple values in attributes for content filtering?
use space
What file is used to indicate which attributes and values to filter out of your content?
ditaval files
In DITA 1.3, what element within a map is used to include a ditaval file?
ditavalref
What is the root element of a ditaval file?
val
What is the main child element of a val tag?
prop (prop att=”platform” val=”iphone” action=”exclude” /)
In a ditaval file, what element can be used to add images bofore and after a flagged element?
startflag
endflag
Where is the final value for a key defined?
In a DITA map
What element defines keys in a ditamap?
keydef
What attribute references a key?
keyref
ex: image keyref=”product_image”/
ph keyref=”product_name”/
What elements must you nest inside a keydef that will contain a text string?
keydef
topicmeta
keywords
keyword
What 3 elements can reference a string of text?
ph
term
keyword
What content reference element uses a key instead of a file path?
conkeyref
How do you call folders and files containing topics and maps destined to be reused?
Warehouses
What element is used to pull a sequence of two or more elements into a topic?
conrefend and conref
What conref attribute allows you to “push” content into a topic of the same map?
conaction=”pushreplace”
conaction=”pushbefore”
conaction=”pushafter”
What attribute of a topicref in a map should be used to avoid displaying a specific topic?
processing-role=”resource-only”
What is the difference between a conref and a conkeyref attribute?
conref references an element’s id
conkeyref references an element’s key
Why should you use a conkeyref?
They make your topic reusable
What does CCMS stand for?
Component Content Management System
What is DITA’s open source publishing tool?
DITA OT
What can be used to change the Look-and-feel of default DITA-OT publishes?
Custom plugins
What knowledge is required to customize or update custom plugins?
Ant, XSL and DTD for the base
XHTML, JavaScript and XSL-FO for the output
What document type can be used to simply change the output style?
CSS