Read about the new exciting features of the DITA 1.2 specification which includes several additions, including a Learning and Training specialization, a Machine-industry specialization, new support for glossary entries and acronyms and abbreviations, and the ability to constrain the standard DITA information types. For technical communicators who need to use a sequence of steps in multiple tasks, DITA 1.2 now offers the ability to reference a range of elements. With the new "conref push" mechanism, technical communicators will be able to permit designated customers to "automatically insert" specific content into the source text upon processing, such as brand-related terminology or other content, all without changing the source. These are only a small part of the improvements in the 1.2 specification. Marc Speyer is an active contributor of the Oasis DITA Adoption Technical committee and therefore well positioned to present the why and how of these new features.

1. DITA 1.2 Features
Marc Speyer, Sperotech
Email: mspeyer@sperotech.com
Contributing member of the
OASIS DITA Adoption Technical Committee
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2. What is coming in DITA 1.2?
DITA 1.1 was generally themed by book enablement
DITA 1.2 is basically characterized as a major step in
overall features and reach into new communities of
use
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3. Extended vocabulary
New learning and training elements
New machine industry elements
New glossary elements for acronyms and
abbreviations
Meeting ISO/ANSI standards for hazard statements
Image scale-to-fit
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4. Learning and Training
Addresses the following challenges
How to find the context for developing and delivering the right
content to the right person at the right time
How to identify the learning goals and objectives?
Who and how many are the audiences?
How to pull together and integrate content from many
different sources and content providers?
How to enable customers and partners to add, integrate,
assemble, and deliver their own content?
Pain points: consistency, knowledge sharing,
simplification, content creation, assembly and delivery
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5. DITA for Learning and Training
How DITA helps:
Reuse for Reusable Learning Objects (RLO)
Topic types as building
blocks for learning objects
Domains to provide the
mechanism for interactions
and metadata
Maps to arrange learning
topics into lessons, modules
and courses
Specialization for learning-based topic types, domains and
maps
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6. Machinery Task topic
Developed using the DITA constraint mechanism, it
ads the following specific sections
Preliminary requirements to describe what the user needs
to know before starting the task
Closing requirements to conditions that must be fulfilled
after the successful completion of the current task
Procedural information for machines, machinery
equipment, assemblies and apparatus
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7. New Glossary terms
Before DITA 1.2 just term and definition
In DITA 1.2 a <glossBody> element with glossary
sub-elements has been added that can used for:
Automated pop-up or expansion linking of terms in the
content to definitions in the glossary
Generation of a rich and comprehensive Glossary of Terms
for a printed document
Generation of a dynamic Glossary of Terms (perhaps
sortable and searchable) for an online document
Proper translation of terms into multiple languages
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8. Hazard statements
Provided as a DITA domain
Used to provide information about product safety
hazards, consequences and avoidance strategies
Main element <hazardstatement> (based on the
regulations of ANSI Z535 and ISO 3864)
Message panel with type of hazard, consequences and how
to avoidance
A symbol that represent a hazard, a hazardous situation, a
result of not avoiding a hazard, or any combination of these
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9. New/improved reuse features
Keys and Keyref
Conref ranges
Conref “push”
New ways to group topics for reuse in DITA maps
(mapgroup elements)
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10. Keys and Keyref
<map>
<topicref keys=”aKey” href=”aFile.dita”/>
... other key definitions ...
</map>
<map>
<mapref href=”keyMap.ditamap”/>
... topicrefs ...
<topicref keyref=”aKey”/>
... other topicrefs ...
</map>
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11. Conref ranges
In DITA 1.1 conref could only reference a single ID
DITA 1.2 introduces conrefend for referencing a range of
elements with the conref mechanism
Similar restrictions as the single ID case apply, e.g.
Start and end type must be of the same type as the referencing
element or they must be generalizable to the referencing element
Start and end element must have the same parent
ID of start and end element are not preserved
Note: In between elements do not have to match
referencing element
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12. Conref range example
Source topic Referencing topic
<topic id="x"> <topic id=“y">
... ...
<body>
<ol>
<body>
<li id="apple">A</li> <ol>
<li id="bear">B</li> <li>My own 1st item</li>
<li id="cat">C</li> <li
<li id="dog">D</li> conref="topic.dita#x/bear“
<li id="eel">E</li> conrefend="topic.dita#x/dog“
</ol> />
</body>
</topic>
<li>And a final item</li>
</ol>
</body>
</topic>
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13. Conref range example
Source topic Referencing topic
<topic id="x"> <topic id=“y">
... ...
<body>
<ol>
<body>
<li id="apple">A</li> <ol>
<li id="bear">B</li>topic
Resulting <li>My own 1st item</li>
<li id="cat">C</li>id=“y">
<topic <li
<li id="dog">D</li>
... conref="topic.dita#x/bear“
<li id="eel">E</li>
<body> conrefend="topic.dita#x/dog“
</ol> />
<ol>
</body>
</topic>
<li>My own 1st item</li> a final item</li>
<li>And
<li>B</li> </ol>
</body>
<li id=“cat”>C</li>
<li>D</li> </topic>
<li>And a final item</li>
</ol>
</body>
</topic>
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14. Conref “push”
Until DITA 1.2 there was only a pull mechanism
Insert or replace content in DITA topics and maps
Three possible actions (through conaction attribute):
Replacing an element
Pushing content before an element
Pushing content after an element
Include pushing topic in ditamap with processing-role
attribute set to “resource-only” (not in TOC, non-
searchable and non-linkable)
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15. Conref “pushreplace” example
Source topic Pushing topic
<task id="example“> <task id="other">
<title>Example topic</title> ...
<taskbody> <step
<steps> conaction="pushreplace"
<stepid="a"> conref="example.dita#example/b”
<cmd>A</cmd> >
</step> <cmd>Updated B</cmd>
<step id="b"> </step>
<cmd>B</cmd> ...
</step> </task>
<stepid="c">
<cmd>C</cmd>
</step>
</steps>
</taskbody>
</task>
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16. Conref “pushreplace” example
Source topic Pushing topic
<task id="example“> <task id="other">
Resulting topic
<title>Example topic</title> ...
<task id="example">
<taskbody> <step
<title>Example topic</title>
<steps> conaction="pushreplace"
<taskbody>
<stepid="a"> conref="example.dita#example/b”
<steps>
<cmd>A</cmd> >
<step id="a">
</step> <cmd>Updated B</cmd>
<cmd>A</cmd>
<step id="b"> </step>
</step>
<cmd>B</cmd> ...
<step id="b">
</step> </task>
<cmd>Updated B</cmd>
<stepid="c">
</step>
<cmd>C</cmd>
<step id="c">
</step>
<cmd>C</cmd>
</steps>
</step>
</taskbody>
</steps>
</task>
</taskbody>
</task>
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17. Conref “pushbefore” example
Source topic Pushing topic
<task id="example"> <task id="other">
<title>Example topic</title> ...
<taskbody> 1 <step conaction="pushbefore">
<steps> <cmd>Do this before B</cmd>
<stepid="a"> </step>
<cmd>A</cmd> 2 <step conaction="mark"
</step> conref="example.dita#example/b"
<step id="b"> />
<cmd>B</cmd> ...
</step> </task>
<stepid="c">
<cmd>C</cmd>
</step>
</steps>
</taskbody>
</task>
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18. Conref “pushbefore” example
Source topic Pushing topic
<task id="example"> <task id="other">
<title>Example topic</title> ...
<taskbody> Resulting topic 1 <step conaction="pushbefore">
<steps> <task id="example"> <cmd>Do this before B</cmd>
<title>Example topic</title>
<stepid="a"> </step>
<taskbody>
<cmd>A</cmd> 2 <step conaction="mark"
</step> <steps> conref="example.dita#example/b"
<step id="b"> <step id="a"> />
<cmd>B</cmd> <cmd>A</cmd> ...
</step> </step> </task>
<stepid="c"> <step>
<cmd>C</cmd> <cmd>Do this before B</cmd>
</step> </step>
</steps> <step id="b">
</taskbody> <cmd>B</cmd>
</task> </step>
...
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19. Why conaction = “mark”?
To prevent invalid structure after pushing: the
pushing topic serves as a valid containing structure,
e.g. you cannot do this
Pushing topic
...
<fig id="other">
<title conaction="pushbefore">Extra figure title before</title>
<title conaction="mark "conref="example.dita#example/b"/>
</fig>
...
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20. Map groups
New elements:
<anchorref> - delimits a part of the map to be inserted at the
<anchor> location referenced by its @href attribute
The <anchor> element which was present before DITA 1.2 provides an
integration point into which another map can inserts its navigation
through the @anchorref attribute
<topicset> - defines a complete reuse unit within a map
Should be treated as an independent unit
<topicsetref> - references a <topicset> preserving its identity
Differs from conref-ing since that results in a transclusion
<mapref> - convenience element to reference a map (eq. to
<topicref> element with @format attribute set to “ditamap”
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21. Flexibility for authors
General task model
Recursive (untitled) sections
Keywords in keywords
<text> element
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22. Facilitate consistency within teams
Constraints
Controlled values for metadata
Use the same specialized element in more contexts
(domain/topic integration)
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23. Defining a metadata scheme in
DITA 1.2
<subjectScheme> attribute binding
<enumerationdef>
<attributedef name=”platform”/>
category
<subjectdef keys=”os”>
<subjectdef keys=”aix”/>
<subjectdef keys=”linux”/>
<subjectdef keys=”zos”/>
</subjectdef> values
</enumerationdef>
... other enumerations ...
</subjectScheme>
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24. Constraints
Allows more constrained version of a schema without
the need to create a specialization
Types of constraints:
Restriction of content model or attributes for an element
Restriction of extension elements from a domain
Replacement of base elements by domain extensions
Still requires knowledge of schema (DTD/XSD) to
implement the constraint
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25. Relaxation of inheritance
In DITA 1.1 topics could only be specialized from
a single topic and domains only from single domain
Inheritance diagram Level
root topic
elements common elements DITA
generic
concept, task, DITA core
UI Software topic types
reference, …
& domains
User User User User User
topic topic domain domain specialized
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26. DITA 1.2 Relaxation of inheritance
restrictions
Topics can specialize from multiple topics and can also include
elements from domains
Domains can specialize from both domains and topics and can
also include elements from other domains
Inheritance diagram DITA 1.2 Level Scope
root topic
elements common elements
base
global
module
domain domain
elements elements
domain
topic elements elements specialized
local to
topic
domain topic
module
elements
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27. Maintainability/Housekeeping
Catalog version numbers
Allows authors to control how to bind their documents to a
specific schema
An exact version in time (point release)
The latest available version within a major version
The latest version available regardless of major version
DITA Entity Resolution Catalog
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28. References
http://www.oasis-
open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=dita-
adoption
Official website of the group that wants to educate the
marketplace of the value of DITA
http://wiki.oasis-open.org/dita-adoption
Feature articles, explanations, and tools to promote the adoption
of DITA
http://dita.xml.org
Online community for the DITA Oasis standard
http://www.oasis-
open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=dita
Official website of group that maintains the DITA standard
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29. Thank you
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