3. The most commonly used “inline elements”
The most generic inline elements are also borrowed from HTML: 
(italic), (bold), (teletype or
monospaced text), (subscript), (superscript).
<i> (italic), <b> (bold), <tt> (teletype or
monospaced text), <sub> (subscript), <sup> (superscript).However like with any other document type, you should always try to use
the most specific element for your needs. Examples:
- If you need to specify a filename, do not use
<tt>, instead use<filepath>. - If you need to specify a variable, do not use
<i>, instead use<varname>. - If you need to specify the name of a command, do not use
<b>, instead use<cmdname>.
DITA has dozens of such useful inline elements. In order to use them,
we recommend authoring your documents with a DITA-aware XML editor and
browsing through the element names suggested by the editor. Generally
these names are very descriptive, so there is no real need to read the
documentation.
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RememberUsing the most specific elements rather than the
generic
<i>, <b>,
<tt> elements, means getting nicer deliverables.
Example: Let's suppose you want to refer to the "Open" item of
the "File" menu. Do not type
<tt>File->Open</tt> which would be
rendered as: File->Open. Instead type
<menucascade><uicontrol>File</uicontrol><uicontrol>Open</uicontrol></menucascade>,
which will be rendered as: . Much nicer, isn't it?
See
<uicontrol> and <menucascade> . |