Prolog

The prolog contains metadata about the topic, for example, author information or subject category.

Syntax

The syntax for representing this component varies depending on the authoring format:

Authoring format Syntax and example

Authoring format	Syntax and example
XDITA	`<prolog>` `<prolog> <data name="author" value="Victoria Fernando"/> </prolog>`
HDITA	There is no equivalent to `<prolog>`.
MDITA	There is no equivalent to `<prolog>`.

XDITA

<prolog>

<prolog>
  <data name="author" value="Victoria Fernando"/>
</prolog>

HDITA

There is no equivalent to <prolog>.

MDITA

There is no equivalent to <prolog>.

Attributes

The following attributes are available on this element: localization attributes, universal attributes, and @props.

Example

The following code sample shows how the XDITA <prolog> element can contain metadata that applies to the topic as a whole. The prolog holds three <data> elements, which store metadata about the author, product, and user goal associated with the topic.

<topic id="installing-acme-test-suite">
  <title>Installing the Acme Test Suite</title>
  <shortdesc>Install the Acme Test Suite in order to test whether your
    applications will work with the Acme core code.</shortdesc>
  <prolog>
    <data name="author" value="Carolyn Miller"/>
    <data name="product" value="Acme Test Suite"/>
    <data name="goal" value="installing"/>
    <data/>
  </prolog>
  <!-- ... -->
</topic>

Note that this metadata is only useful for authors working with this content, since the content of <data> elements typically is not rendered by processors.