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glossSurfaceForm

The <glossSurfaceForm> element specifies an unambiguous presentation of the <glossterm> that may combine multiple forms. The surface form is suitable to introduce the term in new contexts.

The <glossSurfaceForm> element is most often used for terms that also specify the <glossAcronym> element. In that case it contains the term in a manner that introduces both the term and the acronym, so that later references to the term may be replaced with the acronym alone. See the <abbreviated-form> element for a full description of how the surface form is used together with acronyms.

Contains

note

These models represent only the default document types distributed by OASIS. Actual content models will differ with each new document type.
Doctype Content model
ditabase, glossary, glossentry, glossgroup ( text data or keyword or apiname or option or parmname or cmdname or msgnum or varname or wintitle or term or abbreviated-form or tm) (any number)

Contained by

Doctype Content model
ditabase, glossary, glossentry, glossgroup glossBody

Inheritance

- topic/p concept/p glossentry/glossSurfaceForm

Example

<glossentry id="abs">
  <glossterm>Anti-lock Braking System</glossterm>
  <glossBody>
    <glossSurfaceForm>Anti-lock Braking System (ABS)</glossSurfaceForm>
    <glossAlt>
      <glossAcronym>ABS</glossAcronym>
    </glossAlt>
  </glossBody>
</glossentry>

This glossentry topic defines "Anti-lock Braking System (ABS)" provides an unambiguous way to render the primary term "Anti-lock Braking System". The <abbreviated-form> explains how the <glossSurfaceForm> element affects references to this topic.

Attributes

Name Description Data Type Default Value Required?
univ-atts attribute group (includes select-atts, id-atts, and localization-atts groups) A set of related attributes, described in univ-atts attribute group
global-atts attribute group (xtrf, xtrc) A set of related attributes, described in global-atts attribute group
class, outputclass Common attributes described in Other common DITA attributes

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