Introduction to DITA topic-based authoring with Adobe FrameMaker 8

Key DITA features

Several key features define the DITA approach to managing information:

• DITA architecture is based on topics. These core units of information serve as building blocks for all content.
• DITA topics include three core information types: task, concept, and reference (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. DITA topic, concept, task, and reference information types

• DITA maps assemble topics into sequence and hierarchy tailored to specific delivery requirements.
• The DITA object model is based on inheritance (hence the reference to Darwin). The task, concept, and reference topics, for example, share a common base structure whose characteristics they inherit.
• DITA defines a technique for specialization that enables users to customize the architecture for specific needs, such as defining new topic types or new elements. Specialized elements can still be processed by DITA-aware systems, even if those systems are not aware of the particular specialization.
• Links between topics are defined and maintained using relationship tables.

DITA enables reuse of units of content by means of the conref attribute. An example is a note, common to multiple topics, which can be authored once and included by reference.

The extremely modular, topic-centric nature of DITA is perhaps its most distinctive feature. The DITA topic has been described as "a chunk of information organized around a single subject." Authors new to DITA have to learn to think of content in terms of these modular units of information. Instead of thinking in terms of a single, monolithic document, authors working in DITA must create topics of different types as one process, and then define the sequence and hierarchy of these topics for different forms of delivery as a second, independent process.

Page 3 of 8

Previous Page

Next Page