Glossentry elements

The <glossentry> element defines a single sense of a glossary term. Glossary entries for different term senses can be reused independently of one another. DITA 1.2 adds several elements to the glossentry topic type, allowing it to specify additional information about a term (beyond just the definition).

The <glossterm> element specifies the preferred term associated with a definition of a sense. If the same term has multiple senses, create a separate <glossentry> topic for each sense.

The <glossdef> element specifies the definition of one sense of a term. If a term has multiple senses, create a separate <glossentry> topic to define each sense.

The <glossAbbreviation> element provides an abbreviated form of the term contained in a <glossterm> element.

The <glossAcronym> element defines an acronym as an alternate form for the term defined in the <glossterm> element.

The <glossAlt> element contains a variant term for the preferred term. The variant should have the same meaning as the term in the <glossterm> element; the variant is simply another way to refer to the same term. There may be many ways to refer to a term; each variant is placed in its own <glossAlt> element. The <glossUsage> element may be used within <glossAlt> to indicate when use of the alternate term is appropriate.

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

The <glossbody> element is used to provide details about a glossary term (such as part of speech or additional forms of the term).

The <glossPartOfSpeech> element identifies the part of speech for the preferred and alternate terms. Alternate terms must have the same part of speech as the preferred term because all terms in the glossentry topic designate the same subject. If the part of speech isn't specified, the default is a noun for the standard enumeration.

The <glossProperty> element is an extension point which allows additional details about the preferred term or its subject.

The <glossScopeNote> element contains a clarification of the subject designated by the <glossterm>, such as examples of included or excluded companies or products. For instance, a scope note for "Linux" might explain that the term doesn't apply to UNIX products and may give some examples of Linux products that are included as well as UNIX products that are excluded.

The <glossShortForm> element provides a shorter alternative to the primary term specified in the <glossterm> element.

Identifies the usage status of a preferred or alternate term. If the status isn't specified, the <glossterm> provides a preferred term and an alternate term provides an allowed term.

The <glossSurfaceForm> element specifies an unambiguous presentation of the <glossterm> that may combine multiple forms. The surface form is suitable to introduce the term in new contexts.

The <glossSymbol> element identifies a standard image associated with the subject of the <glossterm>.

Provides a term that is a synonym of the primary value in the <glossterm> element.

The <glossUsage> element provides information about the correct use of a term, such as where or how it can be used.