There are many “common attributes” that occur on every DocBook element. They are summarized here for brevity and to make the additional attributes that occur on many elements stand out.
| Name | Type | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
annotations | text | |||||
dir |
| |||||
remap | text | |||||
revisionflag |
| |||||
role | text | |||||
version | text | |||||
xml:base | anyURI | |||||
xml:id | ID | |||||
xml:lang | text | |||||
xreflabel | text |
annotationsIdentifies one or more annotations that apply to this element
dirIdentifies the direction of text in an element:
ltrLeft-to-right text
rtlRight-to-left text
lroLeft-to-right override
rloRight-to-left override
remapProvides the name or similar semantic identifier assigned to the content in some previous markup scheme
revisionflagIdentifies the revision status of the element:
changedThe element has been changed.
addedThe element is new (has been added to the document).
deletedThe element has been deleted.
offRevision markup has been explicitly turned off for this element.
roleProvides additional, user-specified classification for an element
versionSpecifies the DocBook version of the element and its descendants
xml:baseSpecifies the base URI of the element and its descendants
xml:idIdentifies the unique ID value of the element
xml:langSpecifies the natural language of the element and its descendants
xreflabelProvides the text that is to be generated for a cross-reference to the element
The common attributes include a collection of “effectivity attributes.” These attributes are available for authors to identify to whom a particular element applies. Effectivity attributes are often used for profiling: building documents that contain information only relevant to a particular audience.
For example, a section might be identified as available only to
readers with a “top-secret” security clearance or a paragraph might be
identified as affecting only users running the implementation provided
by a particular vendor.
| Name | Type |
|---|---|
arch | text |
audience | text |
condition | text |
conformance | text |
os | text |
revision | text |
security | text |
userlevel | text |
vendor | text |
wordsize | text |
archDesignates the computer or chip architecture to which the element applies
audienceDesignates the intended audience to which the element applies; for example, system administrators, programmers, or new users
conditionProvides a standard place for application-specific effectivity
conformanceIndicates standards conformance characteristics of the element
osIndicates the operating system to which the element is applicable
revisionIndicates the editorial revision to which the element belongs
securityIndicates something about the security level associated with the element to which it applies
userlevelIndicates the level of user experience for which the element applies
vendorIndicates the computer vendor to which the element applies
wordsizeIndicates the word size (width in bits) of the computer architecture to which the element applies
The names of the effectivity attributes are suggestive of
several classes of common effectivity information. The semantically
neutral condition attribute was
added to give authors a place to put values that don’t fit neatly into
one of the other alternatives.
In authoring environments where many different kinds of effectivity information are required, it’s not uncommon to see local extensions that add new attributes. It’s also not uncommon to see attributes used without regard to the class of information suggested by the name.