Conditional processing in DITA plays a pivotal role in tailoring repair and service documentation for various vehicle models and engine types, allowing automotive organizations to provide precise information to technicians based on specific requirements:

Model-Specific Content

One of the challenges in automotive documentation is the need to cater to different vehicle models and their unique features. DITA enables conditional processing, where content can be tagged or filtered based on predefined conditions. For instance, a repair manual may contain sections specific to certain vehicle models, and conditional processing ensures that only the relevant sections are included in the documentation for a particular model.

Engine Type Variations

Engine types can vary significantly between vehicles, and technicians require accurate information to perform repairs and maintenance. With conditional processing, DITA allows content creators to specify conditions that determine which sections or steps are displayed based on the engine type. This ensures that technicians receive instructions and procedures that are applicable to the specific engine they are working on, improving efficiency and reducing the risk of errors.

Example:

Here’s an example of how DITA employs conditional processing to tailor documentation for different vehicle models and engine types:

<topic id="engine_repair">
  <title>Engine Repair</title>
  <section id="disassembly" conref="disassembly-modelA.dita">
    <title>Engine Disassembly</title>
    <p>Instructions for disassembling the engine.</p>
  </section>
  <section id="assembly" conref="assembly-modelB.dita">
    <title>Engine Assembly</title>
    <p>Instructions for assembling the engine.</p>
  </section>
  <!-- Additional sections for specific engine types -->

In this example, conditional processing (conref attribute) is used to reference different topic files (e.g., disassembly-modelA.dita and assembly-modelB.dita) based on the specific model or engine type, ensuring that technicians access the correct instructions for their task.