Can DITA support the translation of content variants with distinct attributes?

November 10, 2023
|By Bryan Tipper

DITA XML supports the translation of content variants with distinct attributes, making it a powerful tool for creating multilingual documentation that caters to different audiences and languages. This capability is particularly valuable when dealing with diverse content requirements across various markets.

Managing Distinct Attributes

DITA allows you to define and manage distinct attributes for content variants within topics. These attributes can be related to language, audience, or other criteria. By using conditional processing attributes, such as conkeyref and conref, you can specify which attributes apply to a particular variant, ensuring that the right content is included for translation.

Conditional Attributes Example:

Here’s an example of how DITA manages distinct attributes for content variants:


<topic id="product_description">
  <title>Product Description</title>
  <body>
    <p>This is the product description for the general audience.</p>
    <ph conkeyref="lang" conref="es_description.dita">Este es la descripción del producto en español para el público hispanohablante.</ph>
    <ph conkeyref="audience" conref="tech_description.dita">This is the technical product description for experts.</ph>
  </body>
</topic>

In this example, distinct attributes for language (lang) and audience (audience) are applied to the content variants within the same topic, allowing for precise translation management.

Efficient Translation Workflow

By utilizing these conditional attributes, translation management systems can recognize and process content variants based on the defined criteria. This ensures that the translation workflow is efficient, and translators can focus on the specific variants that match their target audience or language, ultimately delivering content that is tailored to the needs of diverse markets.