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<task>

The <task> element is the top-level element for a task topic. Tasks are the main building blocks for task-oriented user assistance. They generally provide step-by-step instructions that will enable a user to perform a task. A task answers the question of "how to?" by telling the user precisely what to do and the order in which to do it. Tasks have the same high-level structure as other topics, with a title, short description and body.

note

Beginning with DITA 1.2, the DTD and Schema packages distributed by OASIS contain two task models. The general task model allows two additional elements inside the task body (<section> and <steps-informal>); it also allows multiple instances and varying order for the <prereq>, <context>, and <section> elements. The strict task model maintains the order and cardinality of the DITA 1.0 and 1.1 <taskbody> content model. This strict task is implemented with a constraint module.

See the taskbody description for additional details about the two models and for a description of impacts to DITA 1.1 documents.

Content models

See appendix for information about this element in OASIS document type shells.

Inheritance

- topic/topic task/task

Example

<task id="sqlj">
 <title>Creating an SQLJ file</title>
 <taskbody>
  <context>Once you have set up SQLJ, you need to create a new SQLJ file.
  </context>
  <steps>
   <step><cmd>Open...</cmd></step>
  </steps>
 </taskbody>
</task> 

Attributes

The following attributes are available on this element: Universal attribute group (with a narrowed definition of @id, given below), Architectural attribute group, and @outputclass.

@id (REQUIRED)
An anchor point. This ID is usually required as part of the @href or @conref syntax when cross referencing or reusing content within the topic; it also enables <topicref> elements in DITA maps to optionally reference a specific topic within a DITA document. This attribute is defined with the XML Data Type ID.

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