3.2.4.1.7 glossAlternateFor

The <glossAlternateFor> element indicates when a variant term has a relationship to another variant term as well as to the preferred term.

The <glossAlternateFor> element is available inside the <glossAlt> element, which is a container that provides a variant for the primary glossentry term. In some cases, the variant may also be an alternate for another term. In the example below, the abbreviation "stick" is a variant of the primary term (USB flash drive). The <glossAlternateFor> element indicates that "stick" is also a variant of the synonym "memory stick".

Contains

Doctype

Content model

ditabase, glossary, glossentry, glossgroup

no content

Contained by

Doctype

Content model

ditabase, glossary, glossentry, glossgroup

glossAlt

Inheritance

- topic/xref concept/xref glossentry/glossAlternateFor

Example

The glossary term "USB flash drive" with additional information

<glossentry id="usbfd">
  <glossterm>USB flash drive</glossterm>
  <glossdef>A small portable drive.</glossdef>
  <glossBody>
    <glossPartOfSpeech value="noun"/>
    <glossUsage>Do not provide in upper case (as in "USB Flash
Drive") because that suggests a trademark.</glossUsage>
    <glossAlt>
      <glossAcronym>UFD</glossAcronym>
      <glossUsage>Explain the acronym on first occurrence.</glossUsage>
    </glossAlt>
    <glossAlt id="memoryStick">
      <glossSynonym>memory stick</glossSynonym>
      <glossUsage>This is a colloquial term.</glossUsage>
    </glossAlt>
    <glossAlt>
      <glossAbbreviation>stick</glossAbbreviation>
      <glossStatus value="prohibited"/>
      <glossUsage>This is too colloquial.</glossUsage>
      <glossAlternateFor href="#usbfd/memoryStick"/>
    </glossAlt>
    <glossAlt>
      <glossAbbreviation>flash</glossAbbreviation>
      <glossStatus value="prohibited"/>
      <glossUsage>This short form is ambiguous.</glossUsage>
    </glossAlt>
  </glossBody>
</glossentry>
Attributes

Name

Description

Data Type

Default Value

Required?

href

References a term for which the current variant is an alternate (in addition to the primary term of this glossentry topic). The reference will often be to another glossAlt element within the same glossentry topic, indicating that the current variant is an alternate for both the primary term and the referenced alternate term.

CDATA

#IMPLIED

No

type

Describes the target of a reference. See 3.4.2.8 The type attribute for detailed information on supported values and processing implications.

CDATA

#IMPLIED

No

format

The format attribute identifies the format of the resource being referenced. See 3.4.2.9 The format attribute for details on supported values.

CDATA

#IMPLIED

No

scope

The scope attribute identifies the closeness of the relationship between the current document and the target resource. See 3.4.2.10 The scope attribute for more information on values.

(local | peer | external | -dita-use-​conref-​target)

#IMPLIED

No

univ-atts attribute group (includes select-atts, id-atts, and localization-atts groups)

A set of related attributes, described in 3.4.1.3 univ-atts attribute group

     

global-atts attribute group (xtrf, xtrc)

A set of related attributes, described in 3.4.1.2 global-atts attribute group

     

class, outputclass, keyref

Class and outputclass are described in 3.4.1.9 Other common DITA attributes

     

Previous Topic:  3.2.4.1.6 glossAlt

Next Topic:  3.2.4.1.8 glossBody

Parent Topic:  3.2.4.1 Glossentry elements

Sibling Topics:

3.2.4.1.1 glossentry

3.2.4.1.2 glossterm

3.2.4.1.3 glossdef

3.2.4.1.4 glossAbbreviation

3.2.4.1.5 glossAcronym

3.2.4.1.6 glossAlt

3.2.4.1.8 glossBody

3.2.4.1.9 glossPartOfSpeech

3.2.4.1.10 glossProperty

3.2.4.1.11 glossScopeNote

3.2.4.1.12 glossShortForm

3.2.4.1.13 glossStatus

3.2.4.1.14 glossSurfaceForm

3.2.4.1.15 glossSymbol

3.2.4.1.16 glossSynonym

3.2.4.1.17 glossUsage