Software elements

The <msgph> element is a message phrase that contains the text content of a message produced by an application or program. It can also contain a variable name (<varname>) element to illustrate where variable text content can occur in the message. This element is part of the DITA software domain, a special set of DITA elements designed to document software tasks, concepts and reference information.

The <msgblock> element contains a multi-line message or set of messages. The message block can contain multiple message numbers and message descriptions, each enclosed in <msgnum> and <msgph> elements. It can also contain the message content directly. Line breaks and spaces are preserved when the element is rendered. This element is part of the DITA software domain, a special set of DITA elements designed to document software tasks, concepts and reference information.

The <msgnum> element contains the number of a message produced by an application or program. This element is part of the DITA software domain, a special set of DITA elements designed to document software tasks, concepts and reference information.

The <cmdname> element specifies the name of a command when it is part of a software discussion. This element is part of the DITA software domain, a special set of DITA elements designed to document software tasks, concepts and reference information.

The <varname> element specifies a variable that must be supplied to a software application. The variable name element is very similar to the <var> element, but <varname> is available outside of syntax diagrams. This element is part of the DITA software domain, a special set of DITA elements designed to document software tasks, concepts and reference information.

The <filepath> element indicates the name of a referenced file, system path, or both. This element is part of the DITA software domain, a special set of DITA elements designed to document software tasks, concepts and reference information.

The <userinput> element represents the text a user should input in response to a program or system prompt. This element is part of the DITA software domain, a special set of DITA elements designed to document software tasks, concepts and reference information.

The <systemoutput> element represents computer output or responses to a command or situation. A generalized element, it represents any kind of output from the computer, so the author might want to choose more specific markup, such as <msgph> for messages from the application. The system output element is part of the DITA software domain, a special set of DITA elements designed to document software tasks, concepts and reference information.