relcolspec

The <relcolspec> element is used to define a column in a relationship table. The <relcolspec> element may be used to set default values for the <topicref> elements in the column.

You can use the <relcolspec> element to set default values for the attributes of the topics that are referenced in the column. For example, when you set the type attribute to "concept," all <topicref> elements in the column that do not have a type attribute specified are treated as concepts. When values are specified for attributes of <relcell> or <relrow> elements, those values are inherited before those defined for <relcolspec> elements. Values specified for attributes of <relcolspec> elements are inherited before those defined for the <reltable> element.

Beginning with DITA 1.2, you also can add <topicref> elements to the <relcolspec> element; this defines a relationship between the topics that are referenced in the <recolspec> element and the topics that are referenced in the column of the relationship table. Note that this does not define a relationship between two cells in the same column; the only new relationship is between <topicref> targets in a <relcell> and <topicref> targets in that column's <relcolspec>.

Also beginning with DITA 1.2, if you add a <title> element to the <relcolspec> element, the content of the <title> element is used as the label for the related links that are defined and generated by the column. If the <title> element is not present, the labels for the related links are generated in the following ways:

If the <relcolspec> element contains a <topicref> element that points to a non-DITA source, the value of the topicref's navtitle element or attribute is used for the label.
If the <relcolspec> element contains a <topicref> element that points to a DITA source and the locktitle attribute is set to "yes," the value of the topicref's navtitle element or attribute is used for the label.
If the <relcolspec> element contains a <topicref> element that points to a DITA source and the locktitle attribute is missing or set to "no," the label is derived from the <navtitle> or <title> element specified within the topic.
If no title is specified and no topicref is present in the <relcolspec>, a rendering tool may choose to generate a title for the links generated from that column.

Contains

Note: These models represent only the default document types distributed by OASIS. Actual content models will differ with each new document type.

Doctype	Content model
map (base), bookmap	( (title) (optional) then (topicmeta) (optional) then (topicref or anchorref or keydef or mapref or topicgroup or topichead or topicset or topicsetref) (any number) )
map (technical content)	( (title) (optional) then (topicmeta) (optional) then (topicref or (anchorref or keydef or mapref or topicgroup or topichead or topicset or topicsetref) or (glossref) ) (any number) )
classifyMap	( (title) (optional) then (topicmeta) (optional) then (topicref or (topicsubject or topicapply) or (anchorref or keydef or mapref or topicgroup or topichead or topicset or topicsetref) ) (any number) )
subjectScheme	( (title) (optional) then (topicmeta) (optional) then (topicref or (anchorref or keydef or mapref or topicgroup or topichead or topicset or topicsetref) ) (any number) )
learningBookmap, learningMap	( (title) (optional) then (topicmeta) (optional) then (topicref or anchorref or keydef or mapref or topicgroup or topichead or topicset or topicsetref or learningObject or learningGroup) (any number) )

Contained by

Doctype	Content model
map (base), map (technical content), bookmap, classifyMap, subjectScheme, learningBookmap, learningMap	relheader

Inheritance

- map/relcolspec

Example

In this example, a relationship table is defined with three columns; one for "concept", one for "task", and one for "reference". Three cells are defined within one row. The first cell contains one concept topic: puffins.dita. The second cell contains two task topics: puffinFeeding.dita and puffinCleaning.dita. The third cell contains a reference topic: puffinHistory.dita. Setting the type on each column allows (but does not require) processors to validate that the topics in each column are of the expected type.

<map>
 <reltable>
  <relheader>
   <relcolspec type="concept"/>
   <relcolspec type="task"/>
   <relcolspec type="reference"/>
  </relheader>
  <relrow>
   <relcell><topicref href="puffins.dita"/></relcell>
   <relcell>
     <topicref href="puffinFeeding.dita"/>
     <topicref href="puffinCleaning.dita"/>
   </relcell>
   <relcell>
     <topicref href="puffinHistory.dita"/>
   </relcell>
  </relrow>
 </reltable>
</map>

Example with column titles

Consider the following relationship table:

<reltable>
  <relheader>
    <relcolspec type="task">
      <topicref navtitle="Troubleshooting" href="tbs.dita" locktitle="yes"/>
    </relcolspec>
    <relcolspec type="reference">
      <topicref navtitle="Messages" href="msg.dita" locktitle="yes"/>
    </relcolspec>
  </relheader>
  <relrow>
    <relcell>
      <topicref navtitle="Debugging login errors" href="debug_login.dita"/>
    </relcell>
    <relcell>
      <topicref navtitle="Login not found" href="login_error_1.dita"/>
    </relcell>
  </relrow>
  <relrow>
    <relcell>
      <topicref navtitle="Checking access controls" href="checking_access.dita"/>
    </relcell>
    <relcell>
      <topicref navtitle="Login not allowed" href="login_error_2.dita"/>
    </relcell>
  </relrow>
</reltable>

In addition to the relationships defined by the rows in the relationship table, the following relationships are now defined by the columns in the relationship table:

tbs.dita <–> debug_login.dita
tbs.dita <–> checking_access.dita
msg.dita <–> login_error_1.dita
msg.dita <–> login_error_2.dita

Ignoring the headers for a moment, the <reltable> here would ordinarily define a two-way relationship between debug_login.dita and login_error1.dita. This will typically be expressed as a link from each to the other. An application may, but need not, render the link with a language-appropriate heading such as "Related reference", indicating that the target of the link is a reference topic.

The headers change this by specifying a new title. In the second column, the topicref specifies a title of "Messages", which should now be used together with the link to anything in that column. So, a generated link from debug_login.dita to login_error1.dita should be rendered together with the title of "Messages". How this is rendered together with the link is up to the application.

Attributes