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Introduction to DITA 1.3
The Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) specification defines a set of document types for authoring and organizing topic-oriented information, as well as a set of mechanisms for combining, extending, and constraining document types.
Formatting conventions in the XHTML version of the specification
Given the size and complexity of the specification, it is not generated as a single XHTML file. Instead, each DITA topic is rendered as a separate XHTML file. The XHTML version of the specification uses certain formatting conventions to aid readers in navigating through the specification and locating material easily: Link previews and navigation links.

Specification URIs
Notices
Introduction to DITA 1.3
The Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) specification defines a set of document types for authoring and organizing topic-oriented information, as well as a set of mechanisms for combining, extending, and constraining document types.
- About the DITA specification: All-inclusive edition
  The all-inclusive edition of the DITA specification is the largest edition. It is designed for implementers who want all OASIS-approved specializations, as well as users who develop learning and training materials.
- Terminology
  The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT, "RECOMMEND", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC 2119].
- Normative references
- Non-normative references
  Non-normative references are references to external documents or resources that implementers of DITA might find useful.
- Formatting conventions in the XHTML version of the specification
  Given the size and complexity of the specification, it is not generated as a single XHTML file. Instead, each DITA topic is rendered as a separate XHTML file. The XHTML version of the specification uses certain formatting conventions to aid readers in navigating through the specification and locating material easily: Link previews and navigation links.
- Formatting conventions in the Errata 02 version of the specification
  Content that has been modified since the DITA 1.3 version of the written specification is indicated with visual cues. This document contains changes for both DITA 1.3 Errata 01 and DITA 1.3 Errata 02.
Architectural specification: All-inclusive edition
The architectural specification portion of the DITA specification outlines the framework of DITA. It contains an overview of DITA markup; addressing; processing; configuration, specialization, generalization, and constraints; as well as information about coding DITA grammar files.
Language reference: All-inclusive edition
The language reference portion of the DITA specification contains a topic for each DITA element. The topic defines the element, its inheritance hierarchy, and provides examples of usage. This portion of the DITA specification also includes information about DITA attributes.
Conformance
Conformance to the DITA specification allows documents and document types that are used with different processors or different versions of a processor to produce the same or similar results with little or no reimplementation or modification.
Acknowledgments
(Non-normative) Many members of the OASIS DITA Technical Committee participated in the creation of this specification and are gratefully acknowledged.
Non-normative information
This section contains non-normative information, including topics about new features in DITA 1.3 and migrating from DITA 1.2 to DITA 1.3.
Content models for learning and training package
For each element in the learning and training package, this section presents the content model and a list of parent elements that can contain that element.

Formatting conventions in the XHTML version of the specification

Given the size and complexity of the specification, it is not generated as a single XHTML file. Instead, each DITA topic is rendered as a separate XHTML file. The XHTML version of the specification uses certain formatting conventions to aid readers in navigating through the specification and locating material easily: Link previews and navigation links.

Link previews

The DITA specification uses the content of the DITA <shortdesc> element to provide link previews for its readers. These link previews are visually highlighted by a border and a colored background. The link previews are not normative; they contain the content of the <shortdesc> element for the child topic, which is rendered in a normative context as the first paragraph of the topic; the content is identical in both renditions. The link previews serve as enhanced navigation aids, enabling readers to more easily locate content. This usability enhancement is one of the ways in which the specification illustrates the capabilities of DITA and exemplifies DITA best practices.

The following screen capture illustrates how link previews are displayed in the XHTML version of the specification:

Screenshot fragment showing three short portions of text with titles. Each title includes a chapter/section number such as 2.2.1, and is visually styled as a hyperlink (blue and underlined). — Figure 1. Link previews

Navigation links

To ease readers in navigating from one topic to another, each XHTML file generated by a DITA topic contains the following navigation links at the bottom:

Parent topic: Takes readers to the parent topic, which the topic referenced by the closest topic in the containment hierarchy
Previous topic: Takes readers to the previous topic in the reading sequence
Next topic: Takes readers to the next topic in the reading sequence
Return to main page: Takes readers to the place in the table of contents for the current topic in the reading sequence

The following screen capture illustrates how navigation links are displayed in the XHTML version of the specification:

Screenshot fragment showing three labeled hyperlinks plus the sentence 'Return to main page' with 'main page' styled as a hyperlink (blue and underlined). The first three hyperlinks are labeled 'Parent topic', 'Previous topic', and 'Next topic', and each hyperlink text consists of a chapter/section number along with a topic title. — Figure 2. Navigation links

When readers hover over the navigation links, the short description of the DITA topic also is displayed.