Miscellaneous Attributes

The xml:lang attribute identifies the language of a topic or content fragment. The outputclass attaches a classifying label to an element.

Miscellaneous attributes of DITA elements include the following

xml:lang
The xml:lang attribute's behavior is described in detail in the XML specification: http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-xml/#sec-lang-tag The attribute identifies a language by means of the standard language and country codes (as described in RFC 3066). For instance, French Canadian would be identified by the value fr-ca. As is usual, the language applies to the contained content and attributes of the current element and contained elements, other than fragments that declare a different language.
outputclass
The outputclass attribute provides a label on one or more element instances, typically to specify a role or other semantic distinction. As the outputclass attribute doesn't provide a formal type declaration or the structural consistency of specialization, it should be used sparingly, often only as a temporary measure while a specialization is developed. For example, <uicontrol> elements that define button labels could be distinguished by adding an outputclass: <uicontrol outputclass="button">Cancel</uicontrol>. The outputclass value could be used to trigger XSLT or CSS rules, as well as providing a mapping to be used for future migration to a more specialized set of UI elements.

OASIS DITA Architectural Specification v1.0 -- 09 May 2005
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