The <entry> element in DITA XML is used to define individual cells or entries within a table. It plays a crucial role in structuring and organizing tabular data, allowing you to specify the content of each cell in a table. When creating tables, you use the <entry> element within <row> elements to populate the cells with data.

Defining Table Cells

To define a table cell using the <entry> element, you simply enclose the desired content within it. This content can include text, numbers, images, or any other data that needs to be presented in the table. Each <entry> element corresponds to a single cell within a row, and you can have multiple <entry> elements in a single row to populate different cells. Attributes like “namest” and “nameend” can be used to specify the starting and ending column names for merged cells if needed.

Example:

Here’s an example of how to use the <entry> element to define cells in a DITA table:

<table>
  <tgroup cols="3">
    <colspec colname="col1" colwidth="25%" />
    <colspec colname="col2" colwidth="40%" />
    <colspec colname="col3" colwidth="35%" />
    <thead>
      <row>
        <entry>Product</entry>
        <entry>Description</entry>
        <entry>Price</entry>
      </row>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
      <row>
        <entry>Product A</entry>
        <entry>A high-quality product</entry>
        <entry>$99.99</entry>
      </row>
      <row>
        <entry>Product B</entry>
        <entry>Our latest offering</entry>
        <entry>$149.99</entry>
      </row>
    </tbody>
  </tgroup>
</table>

In this example, the <entry> elements within the <row> elements define the content of individual cells in the table, such as product names, descriptions, and prices. This allows you to structure and present tabular data effectively in your DITA topics.