Addressing the Challenge of Linking to Collections in DITA 2.0

[Weiwu Zhang <w@smarttokenlabs.com>]

Hi DIAT 2.0 team

Working on another OASIS project (TokenScript), I've been working
extensively with DITA and have come across a challenge that I believe
warrants discussion and perhaps consideration for future iterations of
the DITA specification.

In our documentation workflow, we often create case studies or
collections of topics that are grouped together in a ditamap. This is
so that the leading chapters of each case-study can be reused, while
each case study in-depth can be compiled into one training material
per-needed. While the ditamap serves as a wonderful way to organize
and present these collections, there seems to be a limitation when it
comes to referencing or linking to the entire collection as a single
entity from another topic.

Upon reviewing the DITA 2.0 specification, I noticed several elements
that handle referencing, such as <data>, <data-about>, <foreign>,
<keyword>, <term>, and <xref>. Among these, the <include> element
caught my attention as it offers a way to embed content from one topic
into another. However, while useful for content embedding, it doesn't
seem to address the challenge of linking to a collection like a case
study.

One workaround we've considered is creating a "parent" topic that
serves as an entry point to the case study, which then links to each
of the individual topics. However, this approach feels redundant,
especially when a similar structure already exists in the ditamap.

I wanted to bring this to the attention of the community to see if
there are any best practices or recommendations for this scenario.
Additionally, it might be worth considering enhancements in future
DITA versions to address this challenge more natively.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Weiwu Z.