DITA XML reference guide

February 10, 2023

A quick reference guide on Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) elements.

Common

<conbody>    the body of the concept topic
<p>          a paragraph
<ul>         an unordered or bulleted list
<ol>         an ordered or numbered list
<sli>        simple list item
<li>         a list item inside a <ul> or <ol>
<fig>        a figure, including an optional title
<image>      a graphic inside a figure, or inline in text
<section>    a subdivision in the topic, with an optional title
  <title>    heading (excludes nested <section>, <example>, or <conbodydiv>)
<related-links>  end of topic links
  <link href="URL" format="html" scope="external">

Text Formatting

<b>      bold text
<i>      italic text
<u>      underlined text
<sub>    subscript text
<sup>    superscript text

References & Definitions

<xref>                              cross-references
<note conref="location.dita#id"/>   conref to reference content
<fn>                                footnote
<dl>                                list of terms and definitions
  <dlentry>                         definition entry
  <dt>                              definition term
  <dd>                              full definition
<term>      a word or phrase that needs a definition
<cite>      a word or phrase that needs a citation
<varname>   a word or phrase that may change based on user context

Tables

<simpletable>
  <sthead>    header row
  <strow>     body row
  <stentry>   simple table entry
<table>
  <title>     title for the table
  <tgroup>    columns specifications, header rows and body rows
    <colspec>   column widths and identifying info
    <thead>     table header rows
    <tbody>     table body rows
  <row>       single row
  <entry>     data for table cell

Prolog Elements

<author>        the content author
<critdates>     critical dates: <created> and <revised>
<copyright>     copyright year <copyryear> and holder <copyrholder>
<vrm>           product version, release, and modification info

Strict Task Topic

<taskbody>    the body of the task topic
<steps>       the sequence of actions
<step>        each individual action
  <cmd>         the action the user takes (required)
  <info>        additional information about the step
  <stepresult>  what happens after performing an action
  <stepxmp>     an example of how to do the step
<example>     an example of how to do the entire task

Reference Topic

<refbody>     the body of the reference topic
<section>     a subdivision with an optional title
<table>       a table
<fig>         a figure
<properties>  a list of properties
<refsyn>      a syntax diagram

Glossary Topic

<glossentry>  the glossary entry topic type
<glossterm>   the word or phrase
<glossdef>    the definition of the glossary term

Note Types

<note>
<attention>
<danger>
<caution>
<important>
<tip>

Other

<menucascade>   order of a menu path (e.g., File > Save As)
  <uicontrol>   text for a menu item
<draft-comment>    comments inserted while content is being developed
<required-cleanup>  wrap incorrectly tagged content that needs fixing

Looking for something else? OxygenXML — DITA Elements, A to Z