Complex attribute definitions

The @href attribute is used to reference another DITA topic or map, a specific element inside a DITA topic or map, an external Web page, or another non-DITA resource.

A @keys attribute consists of one or more space-separated keys. Map authors define keys using a <topicref> or <topicref> specialization that contains the @keys attribute. Each key definition introduces an identifier for a resource referenced from a map. Keys resolve to the resources given as the @href value on the key definition <topicref> element, to content contained within the key definition <topicref> element, or both.

The @keyref attribute provides an indirect, late-bound reference to topics, to collections of topics (ditabase), to maps, to referenceable portions of maps, to non-DITA documents, to external URIs, or to XML content contained within a key definition topic reference. When the DITA content is processed, the key references are resolved using key definitions from DITA maps.

The @keyscope attribute consists of one or more space-separated key scope names. Map authors define the boundaries for key scopes by specifying the @keyscope attribute on <map> elements, <topicref> elements, or elements that are specializations of <map> or <topicref>. Such elements, their contents, and any locally-scoped content referenced from within the element, are considered to be part of the scope. Keys defined within a scope are only directly referenceable from within the same scope. They can be referenced from the parent scope using the scope's name, followed by a period, followed by the key name.

The @conref attribute is used to reference content that can be reused. It allows reuse of DITA elements, including topic or map level elements.

The @conaction attribute allows users to push content from one topic into another. It causes the @conref attribute to work in reverse, so that the content is pushed from the current topic into another, rather than pulled from another topic into the current one. Allowable values for @conaction are: pushafter, pushbefore, pushreplace, mark, and -dita-use-conref-target.

The @conrefend attribute is used when referencing a range of elements with the conref mechanism. The @conref or @conkeyref attribute references the first element in the range, while @conrefend references the last element in the range.

The @conkeyref attribute provides an indirect content reference to topic elements, map elements, or elements within maps or topics. When the DITA content is processed, the key references are resolved using key definitions from DITA maps.

The @type attribute is used on linking elements to describe the target of a cross-reference. It also is used on the <note> element to describe the note type, as well as on several other elements for varying purposes.

The @format attribute identifies the format of the resource that is referenced. 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 @scope attribute identifies the closeness of the relationship between the current document and the target resource.

The @role attribute defines the role the target topic plays in relationship with the current topic. For example, in a parent/child relationship, the role would be "parent" when the target is the parent of the current topic, and "child" when the target is the child of the current topic. This structure could be used to sort and classify links at display time.