3.2.2 Task elements

Task topics answer "How do I?" questions, and have a well-defined structure that describes how to complete a procedure to accomplish a specific goal. Use the task topic to describe the steps of a particular task, or to provide an overview of a higher-level task. The task topic includes sections for describing the context, prerequisites, actual steps, expected results, example, and expected next steps for a task. For more details on when to use task and other information types, please refer to the DITA architectural specification.

• 3.2.2.1 task
  The <task> element is the top-level element for a task topic. Tasks are the main building blocks for task-oriented user assistance. They generally provide step-by-step instructions that will enable a user to perform a task. A task answers the question of "how to?" by telling the user precisely what to do and the order in which to do it. Tasks have the same high-level structure as other topics, with a title, short description and body.
• 3.2.2.2 taskbody
  The <taskbody> element is the main body-level element inside a task topic. A task body is designed to contain information specific to completing a task, such as prerequisites, contextual information, and steps. DITA 1.2 introduces a much looser <taskbody> content model in order to allow for more variations in the structure of a task. A constraint module is also provided in order to maintain compatibility with the previous strict model; this constraint is used in the default task distributed by OASIS.
• 3.2.2.3 prereq
  The <prereq> element of a task contains prerequisites that the user needs to know or do before starting the current task. Implementations may, but need not, render prerequisite links from the related-links section together with the <prereq> content.
• 3.2.2.4 context
  The <context> element provides background information for a task. This information helps the user understand what the purpose of the task is and what they will gain by completing the task. This section should be brief and does not replace or recreate a concept topic on the same subject, although the context section may include some conceptual information.
• 3.2.2.5 steps
  The <steps> element provides the main content of a task topic. The task is described as a series of steps that the user must follow to accomplish the task. At least one <step> element is required inside the <steps> element.
• 3.2.2.6 steps-informal
  The <steps-informal> element allows authors to describe procedural task information without placing each step in an individual container element, which is a requirement of the related <steps> and <steps-unordered> elements. For example, <steps-informal> may contain a paragraph that describes more than one step in a single sentence, or it may contain sentences that mix steps together with information about the steps.
• 3.2.2.7 steps-unordered
  Like the <steps> element, the <steps-unordered> element provides the main content of a task topic, but particularly for cases in which the order of steps may vary from one situation to another. At least one <step> element is required inside the <steps-unordered> element.
• 3.2.2.8 step
  The <step> element represents an action that a user must follow to accomplish a task. Each step in a task must contain a command <cmd> element which describes the particular action the user must do to accomplish the overall task. Beginning with DITA 1.2, it is possible to place a <note> element before the command in order to notify the user of dangers or other important information about the step. The <step> element can also contain additional optional information about the step, such as substeps, a list of choices, or result information.
• 3.2.2.9 stepsection
  The <stepsection> element provides expository text before a step element. Although the element is specialized from <li> and has the same content model as a list item, it is not intended to represent a step in a task.
• 3.2.2.10 cmd
  The <cmd> element specifies a command, which is a required element inside the <step> element. It provides the active voice instruction to the user for completing the step, and should not be more than one sentence. If the step needs additional explanation, place the explanation in an <info> element following the <cmd>.
• 3.2.2.11 info
  The <info> element occurs inside a <step> element to provide additional information about the step.
• 3.2.2.12 substeps
  The <substeps> element allows you to break a step down into a series of separate actions, and should be used only if necessary. Try to describe the steps of a task in a single level of steps. If you need to use more than one level of substep nesting, you should probably rewrite the task to simplify it.
• 3.2.2.13 substep
  A <substep> element has the same structure as a <step>, except that it does not allow lists of choices or substeps within it, in order to prevent unlimited nesting of steps.
• 3.2.2.14 stepxmp
  The <stepxmp> element is used to illustrate a step of a task. The step example can be a couple of words, or an entire paragraph.
• 3.2.2.15 choicetable
  The <choicetable> element contains a series of optional choices available within a step of a task.
• 3.2.2.16 chhead
  The <chhead> element is a container inside the <choicetable> element that provides specific heading text to override the default Options and Description headings. The <chhead> element contains both a <choptionhd> and <chdeschd> element as a pair.
• 3.2.2.17 choptionhd
  The <choptionhd> element provides a specific label for the list of options from which a user chooses in order to accomplish a step. The default label for options is a localized translation of Option.
• 3.2.2.18 chdeschd
  The <chdeschd> element provides a specific label for the list of descriptions of options from which a user must choose in order to accomplish a step. The default label overridden by <chdeschd> is a localized translation of Description.
• 3.2.2.19 chrow
  The <chrow> element is a container inside the <choicetable> element. The <chrow> element contains both a <choption> and <chdesc> element as a pair.
• 3.2.2.20 choption
  The <choption> element describes an option that a user could choose to accomplish a step of a task. In a user interface, for example, this might be the name of radio button.
• 3.2.2.21 chdesc
  The <chdesc> element is a description of an option that a user chooses while performing a step to accomplish a task. It explains why the user would choose that option and might explain the result of the choice when it is not immediately obvious.
• 3.2.2.22 choices
  The <choices> element contains a list of <choice> elements. It is used when the user will need to choose one of several actions while performing the steps of a task.
• 3.2.2.23 choice
  Each <choice> element describes one way that the user could accomplish the current step.
• 3.2.2.24 stepresult
  The <stepresult> element provides information on the expected outcome of a step. If a user interface is being documented, the outcome could describe a dialog box opening or the appearance of a progress indicator. Step results are useful to assure a user that they are on track, but should not be used for every step as this quickly becomes tedious.
• 3.2.2.25 tutorialinfo
  The <tutorialinfo> element contains additional information that is useful when the task is part of a tutorial.
• 3.2.2.26 result
  The <result> element describes the expected outcome for the task as a whole.
• 3.2.2.27 postreq
  The <postreq> element describes steps or tasks that the user should do after the successful completion of the current task. It is often supported by links to the next task or tasks in the <related-links> section.

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