Chunking
Content can be chunked (divided or merged into new output documents) in different ways
for the purposes of delivering content and navigation. For example, content best authored as a
set of separate topics might need to be delivered as a single Web page. A map author can use
the @chunk attribute to split up multi-topic documents into component topics
or to combine multiple topics into a single document as part of output processing.
The @chunk attribute is commonly used for the following use cases.
- Reuse of a nested topic
- A content provider creates a set of topics as a single document. Another user
wants to incorporate only one of the nested topics from the document. The new user
can reference the nested topic from a DITA map, using the
@chunkattribute to specify that the topic should be produced in its own document. - Identification of a set of topics as a unit
- A curriculum developer wants to compose a lesson for a SCORM LMS (Learning
Management System) from a set of topics without constraining reuse of those
topics. The LMS can save and restore the learner's progress through the lesson if
the lesson is identified as a referenceable unit. The curriculum developer defines
the collection of topics with a DITA map, using the
@chunkattribute to identify the learning module as a unit before generating the SCORM manifest.