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<section>

The <section> element represents an organizational division in a topic. Sections are used to organize subsets of information that are directly related to the topic. Multiple <section> elements within a single topic do not represent a hierarchy, but rather peer divisions of that topic. Sections cannot be nested. A <section> can have an optional title.

For example, the titles Reference Syntax and Properties might represent section-level discourse within a topic about a command-line process—the content in each <section> relates uniquely to the subject of that topic.

note

For maximum flexibility, sections allow plain text as well as phrase and block level elements. Because of the way XML grammars are defined within a DTD, any element that allows plain text cannot restrict the order or frequency of other elements. As a result, the <section> element allows <title> to appear anywhere as a child of <section>. However, the intent of the specification is that <title> should only be used once in any <section>, and when used, it should precede any other text or element content.

Content models

See appendix for information about this element in OASIS document type shells.

Inheritance

- topic/section

Example

<reference id="reference">
 <title>Copy Command</title>
 <refbody>
  <section>
   <title>Purpose</title>
   <p>This little command copies
   things.</p>
  </section>
 </refbody>
</reference>

Attributes

The following attributes are available on this element: Universal attribute group, @outputclass, and @spectitle.

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