desc

The <desc> element contains the description of the current element. A description should provide more information than the title. This is its behavior in fig/table/linklist, for example. In xref/link, it provides a description of the target; processors that support it may choose to display this as hover help. In object, it contains alternate content for use when in contexts that cannot display the object.

Example

<fig><title>The Handshake</title>
<desc>This image shows two hands clasped in a formal, 
business-like handshake.</desc>
<image href="handshake.jpg">
 <alt>The handshake</alt>
</image>
</fig>

Contains

Doctype	Content model
ditabase, topic, task, reference, concept	( text data or ph or codeph or synph or filepath or msgph or userinput or systemoutput or b or u or i or tt or sup or sub or uicontrol or menucascade or term or xref or cite or q or boolean or state or keyword or option or parmname or apiname or cmdname or msgnum or varname or wintitle or tm or p or lq or note or dl or parml or ul or ol or sl or pre or codeblock or msgblock or screen or lines or image or data or data-about or foreign or unknown) (any number)
map, bookmap	( text data or ph or term or xref or cite or q or boolean or state or keyword or tm or p or lq or note or dl or ul or ol or sl or pre or lines or image or data or data-about or foreign or unknown) (any number)

Doctype

Content model

ditabase, topic, task, reference, concept

( text data or ph or codeph or synph or filepath or msgph or userinput or systemoutput or b or u or i or tt or sup or sub or uicontrol or menucascade or term or xref or cite or q or boolean or state or keyword or option or parmname or apiname or cmdname or msgnum or varname or wintitle or tm or p or lq or note or dl or parml or ul or ol or sl or pre or codeblock or msgblock or screen or lines or image or data or data-about or foreign or unknown) (any number)

map, bookmap

( text data or ph or term or xref or cite or q or boolean or state or keyword or tm or p or lq or note or dl or ul or ol or sl or pre or lines or image or data or data-about or foreign or unknown) (any number)

Contained by

Doctype	Parents
ditabase, topic, task, concept, reference	fig, object, xref, table, link, linklist
map, bookmap	fig, object, xref, table

Inheritance:

- topic/desc

Attributes

Name	Description	Data Type	Default Value	Required?
%univ-atts; (%select-atts;, %id-atts;, %localization-atts;)	A set of related attributes, described at %univ-atts;	parameter entity	PE not applicable	Not applicable
%global-atts; (xtrf, xtrc)	A set of related attributes, described at %global-atts;	parameter entity	PE not applicable	Not applicable
class, outputclass	Common attributes described in Other common DITA attributes.