proposal for DITA 1.3: same document/same topic DITA reference syntax

["Ogden, Jeff" <jogden@ptc.com>]

Here is a proposal for DITA 1.3 or whatever comes after DITA 1.2. Not sure if this would be proposed feature #13001 or not.

 

Paul Grosso and I would like the DITA TC to consider defining a syntax for same document/same topic references in DITA 1.3.

 

The DITA Specification currently defines a syntax that provides for same document references in topics and maps:

 

      #mapelementid

      #topicid

      #topicid/elementid

 

A suggested syntax for same document/same topic references is:

 

      #.             (pound-sign dot forward-slash)

#./elementid   (pound-sign dot forward-slash elementid)

 

Where . (dot) represents the id of the current topic.

 

This syntax is only used for same document topic references. It is an error to use this syntax when a path or filename is given or for a same document map reference.

 

The uses for a same document/same topic reference syntax are similar to the uses for the existing same document reference syntax. The syntax allows sections of DITA markup that include URI references to be written in a self-contained location independent fashion. The markup could be moved from or included from one topic document to another using copy and past, content references, xincludes, entities, or other means without the need to adjust the URI reference to include the id of the topic at the target location.