The task element is the top-level element for a task topic. Tasks are the main building blocks for task-oriented user assistance. They generally provide step-by-step instructions that will enable a user to perform a task. A task answers the question of "how to?" by telling the user precisely what to do and the order in which to do it. Tasks have the same high-level structure as other topics, with a title, short description and body.
See the taskbody description for additional details about the two models and for a description of impacts to DITA 1.1 documents.
Content models
See appendix for information about this element in OASIS document type shells.
Inheritance
- topic/topic task/task
Example
<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>Open...</cmd></step> </steps> </taskbody> </task>
Attributes
The following attributes are available on this element: Universal attribute group (with a narrowed definition of id, given below), Architectural attribute group, and outputclass.
- id (REQUIRED)
- An anchor point. This ID is usually required as part of the href or conref syntax when cross referencing or reusing content within the topic; it also enables topicref elements in DITA maps to optionally reference a specific topic within a DITA document. This attribute is defined with the XML Data Type ID.