var
Within a syntax diagram, the <var>
element defines a variable for which the user must supply content,
such as their user name or password. Processors typically represent
the <var> element in output in an italic font, but are not required
to do so. This element
is part of the DITA programming domain, a special set of DITA elements
designed to document programming tasks, concepts, and reference information.
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 |
|---|---|
| topic (technical content), map (technical content), concept, ditabase, glossary, glossentry, glossgroup, reference, task, bookmap | ( text data or data or data-about or foreign or unknown or keyword or apiname or option or parmname or cmdname or msgnum or varname or wintitle or term or abbreviated-form) (any number) |
Contained by
| Doctype | Content model |
|---|---|
| topic (technical content), map (technical content), concept, ditabase, glossary, glossentry, glossgroup, reference, task (strict), task (general), bookmap | synph, groupseq, groupchoice, groupcomp |
Inheritance
+ topic/ph pr-d/var
Example
<syntaxdiagram frame="bottom"> <title>CopyFile</title> <groupseq><kwd>COPYF</kwd></groupseq> <groupcomp><var>input-filename</var><kwd>*INFILE</kwd></groupcomp> <groupseq><var>output-filename</var><kwd>*OUTFILE</kwd></groupseq> <groupchoice><var>input-filename</var><kwd>*INFILE</kwd></groupchoice> <groupchoice><var>output-filename</var><kwd>*OUTFILE</kwd></groupchoice> </syntaxdiagram>
Attributes
| Name | Description | Data Type | Default Value | Required? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| importance | The attribute indicates whether this item in a syntax diagram is optional, required, or default. Output processors may indicate this designation in a generated diagram. See Using the -dita-use-conref-target value for more information on the -dita-use-conref-target value. | optional | required | default | -dita-use-conref-target | #IMPLIED | No |
| props | Root attribute from which new metadata attributes can be specialized. This is a property attribute which supports conditional processing for filtering or flagging. If no value is specified, but the attribute is specified on an ancestor within a map or within the related-links section, the value will cascade from the closest ancestor. The attribute takes a space-delimited set of values. However, when acting as a container for generalized attributes, the content model will be more complex; see Attribute generalization for more details. | CDATA | #IMPLIED | No |
| base | A generic attribute that has no specific purpose. It is intended to act as a base for specialized attributes that have a simple value syntax like the conditional processing attributes (one or more alphanumeric values separated by whitespace), but is not itself a filtering or flagging attribute. The attribute takes a space-delimited set of values. However, when acting as a container for generalized attributes, the content model will be more complex; see Attribute generalization for more details. | CDATA | #IMPLIED | No |
| platform | Indicates operating system and hardware. This is a property attribute which supports conditional processing for filtering or flagging. If no value is specified, but the attribute is specified on an ancestor within a map or within the related-links section, the value will cascade from the closest ancestor. The attribute takes a space-delimited set of values. | CDATA | #IMPLIED | No |
| product | Contains the name of the product to which the element applies. This is a property attribute which supports conditional processing for filtering or flagging. If no value is specified, but the attribute is specified on an ancestor within a map or within the related-links section, the value will cascade from the closest ancestor. The attribute takes a space-delimited set of values. | CDATA | #IMPLIED | No |
| audience | Indicates the intended audience for the element. This is a property attribute which supports conditional processing for filtering or flagging. If no value is specified, but the attribute is specified on an ancestor within a map or within the related-links section, the value will cascade from the closest ancestor. The attribute takes a space-delimited set of values. | CDATA | #IMPLIED | No |
| otherprops | This attribute can be used for any other properties that might be needed to describe an audience, or to provide selection criteria for the element. Alternatively, the props attribute may be specialized to provide a new metadata attribute instead of using the general otherprops attribute. This is a property attribute which supports conditional processing for filtering or flagging. If no value is specified, but the attribute is specified on an ancestor within a map or within the related-links section, the value will cascade from the closest ancestor. The attribute takes a space-delimited set of values. | CDATA | #IMPLIED | No |
| rev | Indicates a revision level of an element that identifies when the element was added or modified. It may be used to flag outputs when it matches a run-time parameter; it cannot be used for filtering. It is not sufficient to be used for version control.If no value is specified, but the attribute is specified on an ancestor within a map or within the related-links section, the value will cascade from the closest ancestor. | CDATA | #IMPLIED | No |
| status | The modification status of the current element. | new | changed | deleted | unchanged | -dita-use-conref-target | #IMPLIED | No |
| id-atts attribute group (id, conref, conrefend, conaction, conkeyref) | A set of related attributes, described in id-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 |