<step>

The <step> element represents an action that a user must follow to accomplish a task. Each step in a task must contain a command <cmd> element which describes the particular action the user must do to accomplish the overall task. Beginning with DITA 1.2, it is possible to place a <note> element before the command in order to notify the user of dangers or other important information about the step. The <step> element can also contain additional optional information about the step, such as sub-steps, a list of choices, or result information.

Content models

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

Inheritance

- topic/li task/step

Example

This section is non-normative.

<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>Select <menucascade><uicontrol>File</uicontrol><uicontrol>New</uicontrol></menucascade>.</cmd>
 <info>New files are created with default values based on a standard template.</info>
</step>
</steps>
</taskbody>
</task>

Content model

<note>*, <cmd>, (<choices> | <choicetable> | <info> | <itemgroup> | <stepxmp> | <substeps> | <tutorialinfo>)*, <stepresult>?, <steptroubleshooting>?

Contained by

<steps>, <steps-unordered>

In order
  1. Zero or more <note>
  2. <cmd>
  3. Zero or more of the following
    • <choices>
    • <choicetable>
    • <info>
    • <itemgroup>
    • <stepxmp>
    • <substeps>
    • <tutorialinfo>
  4. Optional <stepresult>
  5. Optional <steptroubleshooting>

Contained by

  • <steps>
  • <steps-unordered>

Inheritance

- topic/li task/step

The <step> element is specialized from <li>. It is defined in the task module.

Attributes

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

importance
Describes whether the current <step> or <substep> is optional or required. Output processors might highlight steps that are optional or required. Allowed values are "optional", "required", or -dita-use-conref-target.