task
The <task> element is the top-level
element for a task topic. Tasks are the main building blocks for task-oriented
user assistance. They generally provide step-by-step instructions
that will enable a user to perform a task. A task answers the question
of "how to?" by telling the user precisely what to do and the order
in which to do it. Tasks have the same high-level structure as other
topics, with a title, short description and body.
note
Beginning with DITA 1.2, there are two
task models available in the DTD and Schema packages distributed by
OASIS. One model, referred to as the general task, allows two additional
elements inside the task body (<section> and <steps-informal>);
it also allows multiple instances and orders for each element within <taskbody>.
The second model, referred to as the strict task, maintains the order
and cardinality of the DITA 1.0 and 1.1 taskbody. This strict task
is implemented in the DTD and Schema with a constraint module.
See the taskbody description for additional details about the two models and for a description of impacts to DITA 1.1 documents.
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 | ( (title) then (titlealts) (optional) then (abstract or shortdesc) (optional) then (prolog) (optional) then (taskbody) (optional) then (related-links) (optional) then (topic or concept or task or reference or glossentry or glossgroup) (any number) ) |
| task, machineryTask | ( (title) then (titlealts) (optional) then (abstract or shortdesc) (optional) then (prolog) (optional) then (taskbody) (optional) then (related-links) (optional) then (task) (any number) ) |
| learningContent | ( (title) then (titlealts) (optional) then (abstract or shortdesc) (optional) then (prolog) (optional) then (taskbody) (optional) then (related-links) (optional) then ( (no-topic-nesting) (optional) ) (any number) ) |
Contained by
| Doctype | Content model |
|---|---|
| ditabase | dita, topic, concept, task, reference |
| task (strict), task (general), machineryTask | task |
| learningContent | learningContent |
Inheritance
- topic/topic task/task
Example
<task id="sqlj"> <title>Creating an SQLJ file</title> <taskbody> <context>Once you have set up SQLJ, you need to create a new SQLJ file. </context> <steps> <step><cmd>Open...</cmd></step> </steps> </taskbody> </task>
Attributes
| Name | Description | Data Type | Default Value | Required? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| id | This ID enables topics to be referenced uniquely by topicrefs in DITA maps. | ID | Yes | |
| conref-atts attribute group (conref, conrefend, conaction, conkeyref) | A set of related attributes; includes all of the attributes described in id-atts attribute group except for the id attribute. | |||
| xmlns:ditaarch | Declares the default DITA namespace. | "http://dita.oasis-open.org/architecture/2005/" | ||
| DITAArchVersion | Designates the version of the architecture that is in use. The default value will increase with each release of DITA. | CDATA | "1.2" | No |
| domains | Indicates the specialized domains that are included in the DTD or Schema. This value will differ depending on what domains are included in the current DTD or Schema. | CDATA | Varies based on the DTD or Schema; a sample value is "(topic ui-d) (topic hi-d) (topic pr-d) (topic sw-d) (topic ut-d) (topic indexing-d)" | No |
| select-atts attribute group (props, base, platform, product, audience, otherprops, importance, rev, status) | A set of related attributes, described in select-atts attribute group | |||
| localization-atts attribute group (translate, xml:lang, dir) | A set of related attributes, described in localization-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 |