The <relcolspec> element is used to define a column in a relationship table. The <relcolspec> element may be used to set default values for the <topicref> elements in the column.
You can use the <relcolspec> element to set default values for the attributes of the topics that are referenced in the column. For example, when you set the type attribute to "concept," all <topicref> elements in the column that do not have a type attribute specified are treated as concepts. When values are specified for attributes of <relcell> or <relrow> elements, those values are inherited before those defined for <relcolspec> elements. Values specified for attributes of <relcolspec> elements are inherited before those defined for the <reltable> element.
Beginning with DITA 1.2, you also can add <topicref> elements to the <relcolspec> element; this defines a relationship between the topics that are referenced in the <recolspec> element and the topics that are referenced in the column of the relationship table. Note that this does not define a relationship between two cells in the same column; the only new relationship is between <topicref> targets in a <relcell> and <topicref> targets in that column's <relcolspec>.
Also beginning with DITA 1.2, if you add a <title> element to the <relcolspec> element, the content of the <title> element is used as the label for the related links that are defined and generated by the column. If the <title> element is not present, the labels for the related links are generated in the following ways:
( (title) (optional) then (topicmeta) (optional) then (topicref or anchorref or keydef or mapref or topicgroup or topichead or topicset or topicsetref) (any number) ) |
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( (title) (optional) then (topicmeta) (optional) then (topicref or (anchorref or keydef or mapref or topicgroup or topichead or topicset or topicsetref) or (glossref) ) (any number) ) |
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( (title) (optional) then (topicmeta) (optional) then (topicref or (topicsubject or topicapply) or (anchorref or keydef or mapref or topicgroup or topichead or topicset or topicsetref) ) (any number) ) |
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( (title) (optional) then (topicmeta) (optional) then (topicref or (anchorref or keydef or mapref or topicgroup or topichead or topicset or topicsetref) ) (any number) ) |
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( (title) (optional) then (topicmeta) (optional) then (topicref or anchorref or keydef or mapref or topicgroup or topichead or topicset or topicsetref or learningObject or learningGroup) (any number) ) |
map (base), map (technical content), bookmap, classifyMap, subjectScheme, learningBookmap, learningMap |
In this example, a relationship table is defined with three columns; one for "concept", one for "task", and one for "reference". Three cells are defined within one row. The first cell contains one concept topic: puffins.dita. The second cell contains two task topics: puffinFeeding.dita and puffinCleaning.dita. The third cell contains a reference topic: puffinHistory.dita. Setting the type on each column allows (but does not require) processors to validate that the topics in each column are of the expected type.
<map> <reltable> <relheader> <relcolspec type="concept"/> <relcolspec type="task"/> <relcolspec type="reference"/> </relheader> <relrow> <relcell><topicref href="puffins.dita"/></relcell> <relcell> <topicref href="puffinFeeding.dita"/> <topicref href="puffinCleaning.dita"/> </relcell> <relcell> <topicref href="puffinHistory.dita"/> </relcell> </relrow> </reltable> </map>
Consider the following relationship table:
<reltable> <relheader> <relcolspec type="task"> <topicref navtitle="Troubleshooting" href="tbs.dita" locktitle="yes"/> </relcolspec> <relcolspec type="reference"> <topicref navtitle="Messages" href="msg.dita" locktitle="yes"/> </relcolspec> </relheader> <relrow> <relcell> <topicref navtitle="Debugging login errors" href="debug_login.dita"/> </relcell> <relcell> <topicref navtitle="Login not found" href="login_error_1.dita"/> </relcell> </relrow> <relrow> <relcell> <topicref navtitle="Checking access controls" href="checking_access.dita"/> </relcell> <relcell> <topicref navtitle="Login not allowed" href="login_error_2.dita"/> </relcell> </relrow> </reltable>
In addition to the relationships defined by the rows in the relationship table, the following relationships are now defined by the columns in the relationship table:
Ignoring the headers for a moment, the <reltable> here would ordinarily define a two-way relationship between debug_login.dita and login_error1.dita. This will typically be expressed as a link from each to the other. An application may, but need not, render the link with a language-appropriate heading such as "Related reference", indicating that the target of the link is a reference topic.
The headers change this by specifying a new title. In the second column, the topicref specifies a title of "Messages", which should now be used together with the link to anything in that column. So, a generated link from debug_login.dita to login_error1.dita should be rendered together with the title of "Messages". How this is rendered together with the link is up to the application.
topicref-atts attribute group (collection-type, processing-role, type, scope, locktitle, format, linking, toc, print, search, chunk) |
A set of related attributes. See 3.4.1.8 topicref-atts, topicref-atts-no-toc, and topicref-atts-without-format attribute groups. |
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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 |
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A set of related attributes, described in 3.4.1.2 global-atts attribute group |
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Common attributes described in 3.4.1.9 Other common DITA attributes |