dl

A definition list (<dl>) is a list of terms and corresponding definitions. The term (<dt>) is usually presented flush left. The description or definition (<dt>) is usually presented either indented and on the next line, or on the same line to the right of the term.

You can also provide an optional heading for the terms and definitions, using the <dlhead> element, which contains header elements for those columns. The default formatting for the <dlhead> looks like a table with a heading row.

Contains

( (dlhead) (optional) then (dlentry) (one or more) )

Contained by

body, section, example, desc, p, note, lq, li, itemgroup, dd, fig, stentry, draft-comment, fn, linkinfo, entry, conbody, prereq, context, info, tutorialinfo, stepxmp, choice, choptionhd, chdeschd, choption, chdesc, stepresult, result, postreq, refsyn, proptypehd, propvaluehd, propdeschd, propdesc, pd

Inheritance

topic/dl

Attributes

Name Description Data Type Default Value Required?
compact Indicates close vertical spacing between the list items. Expanded spacing is the default value. The output result of compact spacing depends on the processor or browser. Allowed values are:
yes
Indicates compact spacing.
no
Indicates expanded spacing.
(yes | no) "yes" No
%univ-atts; (%select-atts;, %id-atts;, translate, xml:lang) A set of related attributes, described at %univ-atts; parameter entity PE not applicable Not applicable
spectitle The specialized title attribute allows architects of specialized types to define a fixed or default title for a specialized element. Not intended for direct use by authors. CDATA #IMPLIED No
%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

Examples

Simple:
<dl>
<dlentry>
<dt>Bytes returned</dt>
<dd>The number of bytes of data returned.</dd>
</dlentry>
<dlentry>
<dt>Bytes available</dt>
<dd>The number of bytes of data available to be returned.</dd>
</dlentry>
<dlentry><dt>Handle</dt>
<dd>The returned handle value</dd>
</dlentry>
</dl>
With heading:
<dl>
 <dlhead>
  <dthd>Image File View Selection</dthd>
  <ddhd>Resulting Information</ddhd>
 </dlhead>
 <dlentry>
  <dt>File Type</dt>
  <dd>Image's file extension</dd>
 </dlentry>
 <dlentry>
  <dt>Image Class</dt>
  <dd>Image is raster, vector, metafile or 3D</dd>
 </dlentry>
 <dlentry>
  <dt>Number of pages</dt>
  <dd>Number of pages in the image</dd>
 </dlentry>
 <dlentry>
  <dt>Fonts</dt>
  <dd>Names of the fonts contained within a vector image</dd>
 </dlentry>
</dl>

OASIS DITA Language Specification v1.0 -- 09 May 2005
Copyright (c) OASIS Open 2005. All Rights Reserved.