reference

The <reference> element defines a top-level container for a reference topic. Reference topics document programming constructs or facts about a product. Examples of reference topics include language elements, class descriptions, commands, functions, statements, protocols, types, declarators, operands, and API information, which provide quick access to facts, but no explanation of concepts or procedures. Reference topics have the same high-level structure as any other topic type, with a title, short description, and body. Within the body, reference topics are typically organized into one or more sections, property lists, and tables. The reference topic type provides general rules that apply to all kinds of reference information, using elements like <refsyn> for syntax or signatures, and <properties> for lists of properties and values.

Example

<reference id="refexample">
 <title>A reference topic/title>
 <refbody>
  <refsyn>Describe command or api syntax here, possibly
  using &lt;synph> or &lt;syntax> markup for explicit 
  definition of syntax or prototype construction.
  </refsyn>
  <section>
   <title>Some section title</title>
  </section>
  <properties>
   <property>
    <proptype>type</proptype>
    <propvalue>value</propvalue>
    <propdesc>description</propdesc>
   </property>
  </properties>
 </refbody>
</reference>

Contains

Doctype Content model
ditabase ( ( title) then ( titlealts) (optional) then ( shortdesc or abstract) (optional) then ( prolog) (optional) then ( refbody) (optional) then ( related-links) (optional) then ( topic or concept or task or reference or glossentry) (any number) )
reference ( ( title) then ( titlealts) (optional) then ( shortdesc or abstract) (optional) then ( prolog) (optional) then ( refbody) (optional) then ( related-links) (optional) then ( reference) (any number) )

Contained by

Doctype Parents
ditabase dita, topic, concept, task, reference
reference reference

Inheritance:

- topic/topic reference/reference

Attributes

Name Description Data Type Default Value Required?
id This ID enables topics to be referenced uniquely by topicrefs in DITA maps. ID Yes
conref This attribute is used to reference an ID on a topic that can be reused. See The conref attribute for examples and details about the syntax. CDATA #IMPLIED No
xmlns:ditaarch Declares the default DITA namespace. CDATA #FIXED http://dita.oasis-open.org/architecture/2005/  
DITAArchVersion Designates the version of the architecture that is in use. CDATA "1.1" (version dependent; will increase) No
domains Indicates the specialized domains that are included in the DTD or Schema. CDATA (topic ui-d) (topic hi-d) (topic pr-d) (topic sw-d) (topic ut-d) (topic indexing-d) No
%select-atts; (props, base, platform, product, audience, otherprops, importance, rev, status) A set of related attributes, described at %select-atts; parameter entity PE not applicable Not applicable
%localization-atts; (translate, xml:lang, dir) A set of related attributes, described at %localization-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.      

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OASIS DITA Language Specification v1.1 -- Committee Draft 13 February 2007
Copyright © OASIS Open 2005, 2007. All Rights Reserved.