<concept>

The <concept> element is the top-level element for a topic that answers the question what is?

Usage information

Concepts provide background information that users must know before they can successfully work with a product or interface. Often, a concept is an extended definition of a major abstraction such as a process or function. It might also contain an example, image, or diagram.

Specialization hierarchy

The <concept> element is specialized from <topic>. It is defined in the concept module.

Content model

<title>, (<abstract> | <shortdesc>)?, <prolog>?, <conbody>?, <related-links>?, <concept>*

Contained by

<concept>

In order
  1. <title>
  2. Optionally one of the following
    • <abstract>
    • <shortdesc>
  3. Optional <prolog>
  4. Optional <conbody>
  5. Optional <related-links>
  6. Zero or more <concept>

Contained by

Inheritance

- topic/topic concept/concept

The <concept> element is specialized from <topic>. It is defined in the concept module.

Attributes

The following attributes are available on this element: architectural attributes and universal attributes.

For this element, the @id attribute is required.

The following attributes are available on this element: universal attributes and the attributes defined below.

@DITAArchVersion (architectural attributes)
Specifies the version of the DITA architecture that is in use. This attribute is in the namespace http://dita.​oasis-open.​org/​architecture/​2005/. This attribute is specified in the topic and map modules, and it uses a default value of the current version of DITA. The current default is 2.0.
@id
For this element, the @id attribute is required.
@specializations (architectural attributes)
Specifies the attribute-domain specializations that are included in the document-type shell. This attribute is set as a default within the document-type shell. The value varies depending on what domains are integrated into the document-type shell. For example, a grammar file that includes the specialized attributes @audience, @deliveryTarget, and @newBaseAtt would set the value to @props/audience @props/deliveryTarget @base/newBaseAtt.

Example

This section is non-normative.

The following code sample shows a concept topic:

<concept id="concept">
  <title>DITA concept topic</title>
  <shortdesc>The concept topic answers the question <q>what is?</q></shortdesc>
    <conbody>
      <p>Concept topics provide background information that users must know
         before they can successfully work with a product or interface. Often,
         a concept is an extended definition of a major abstraction such as a
         process or function. It might also have an example or a graphic.</p>
    </conbody>
</concept>