Prolog (metadata) elements

The <prolog> element contains information about the topic as an whole (for example, author information or subject category) that is either entered by the author or maintained by a software application. Much of the metadata inside the <prolog> will not be displayed with the topic when the topic is rendered, but it might be used by processes that generate search indexes or customize navigation.

The <audience> metadata element indicates, through the value of its @type attribute, the intended audience for a topic.

The <author> metadata element contains the name of the topic's author.

The <brand> element indicates the manufacturer or brand associated with the product described by the parent <prodinfo> element.

The <category> element represents any category by which a topic might be classified for retrieval or navigation. For example, the categories could be used to group topics in a generated navigation bar. Topics can belong to multiple categories.

The <component> element describes the component of the product that this topic is concerned with. For example, a product might be made up of many components, each of which is installable separately. Components might also be shared by several products so that the same component is available for installation with many products. An implementation might use this identification to check cross-component dependencies when some components are installed, but not others. An implementation might use the identification to make sure that topics are hidden, removed, or flagged in some way when the component they describe isn't installed.

The <copyright> element specifies legal ownership of the content.

The <copyrholder> element names the copyright holder that holds legal rights to the material contained in the topic.

The <copyryear> element contains the copyright year as specified by the @year attribute.

The <created> element specifies the document creation date using the @date attribute.

The <critdates> element contains the critical dates in a document life cycle, such as the creation date and multiple revision dates.

The <featnum> element contains the feature number of a product in the metadata.

The <keywords> element contains a list of terms from a controlled or uncontrolled subject vocabulary that applies to the topic or map. The keywords can be used by a search engine. The keywords are marked up using the <indexterm> and/or <keyword> elements.

The <metadata> section of the <prolog> contains information about a topic such as audience and product information. Metadata can be used by computational processes to select particular topics or to prepare search indexes or to customize navigation. Elements inside of <metadata> provide information about the content and subject of a topic; <prolog> elements outside of <metadata> provide lifecycle information for the content unit (such as the author or copyright), which are unrelated to the subject.

The <othermeta> element can be used to identify properties not otherwise included in <metadata> and to assign name/content values to those properties. The @name attribute identifies the property and the @content attribute specifies the property's value. All <othermeta> elements are considered part of the topic's metadata and should be reflected in the output as appropriate for the output medium.

The <permissions> element in a topic's metadata specifies the level of entitlement needed to access the content.

The <platform> metadata element contains a description of the operating system and/or hardware related to the product being described by the <prodinfo> element. The <platform> element can be used to provide a more detailed definition of values used throughout the map or topic on the @platform attribute.

The <prodinfo> metadata element contains information about the product or products that are the subject matter of the current topic. The <prodinfo> element also can be used to provide a more detailed definition of values used throughout the map or topic on the @product attribute.

The <prodname> metadata element contains the name of the product that is supported by the information in this topic.

The <prognum> metadata element identifies the program number of the associated product. This is typically an order number or a product tracking code that could be replaced by an order number when a product completes development.

The <publisher> metadata element contains the name of the person, company, or organization responsible for making the content or subject of the topic available.

The <resourceid> element provides an identifier for applications that must use their own identifier scheme, such as context-sensitive help systems and databases.

The <revised> metadata element is used to maintain tracking dates that are important in a topic development cycle, such as the last modification date, the original availability date, and the expiration date.

The <series> metadata element contains information about the product series that the topic supports.

The <source> element identifies a resource from which the present topic is derived, either completely or in part.

The <vrmlist> element contains a set of <vrm> elements for logging the version, release, and modification information for multiple products or versions of products to which the topic applies.

The <vrm> element contains information about a single product's version, modification, and release, to which the current topic applies.