Example: content reference and the @xml:lang attribute

This example outlines how processors determine the effective value of the @xml:lang attribute for content that is referenced by the @conref or @conkeyref attribute.

In this scenario, a company has a notices topic that contains warnings in multiple languages. The notices topic specifies an @xml:lang attribute of en. However, it contains content that is reused from topics that explicitly set the @xml:lang attribute to fr and de.

The following code block shows the content of the DITA topic that contains the referencing elements:

Figure 1. Topic that contains the conrefs
<topic xml:lang="en" id="notices">
 <title>NOTICES</title>
 <shortdesc>Be sure to read all product safety information before using the product.</shortdesc>
 <body>
   <note id="warning-english" conref="warnings-en.dita#warnings/general"/>
   <note id="warning-french" conref="warnings-fr.dita#warnings/general"/>
   <note id="warning-german" conref="warnings-de.dita#warnings/general"/>
   <!-- ... All supported languages for the product ... -->
 </body>
</topic>

The following code blocks show the content of the topics that contains the referenced elements:

Figure 2. English warnings topic: warnings-en.dita
<topic id="warnings" xml:lang="en">
 <title>Reusable warnings (English)</title>
 <body>
  <note id="general">General notice about using the product...</note>
  <note id="water">Warning about using the product near water...</note>
  <!-- Other reusable warnings -->
 </body>
</topic>
Figure 3. French warnings topic: warnings-fr.dita
<topic id="warnings" xml:lang="fr">
 <title>Reusable warnings (French)</title>
 <body>
  <note id="general">(French translation of: General notice about using the product...)</note>
  <note id="water">(French translation of: Warning about using the product near water...)</note>
  <!-- Other reusable warnings -->
 </body>
</topic>
Figure 4. German warnings topic: warnings-de.dita
<topic id="warnings" xml:lang="de">
 <title>Reusable warnings (German)</title>
 <body>
  <note id="general">(German translation of: General notice about using the product...)</note>
  <note id="water">(German translation of: Warning about using the product near water...)</note>
  <!-- Other reusable warnings -->
 </body>
</topic>

When the topic that contains the conrefed notes is processed, the following occurs:

  • The <note> element with the @id attribute set to warning-french has an effective value for the @xml:lang attribute of fr.
  • The <note> element with the @id attribute set to warning-german has an effective value for the @xml:lang attribute of de.

In each case, the effective value of the @xml:lang attribute for the note is determined by the value of the @xml:lang attribute that is specified on the topic that contains the referenced element, instead of the value of the @xml:lang attribute that is specified on the notices topic that contains the referencing elements.