Version control is a crucial aspect of managing shared content components in DITA educational documentation. It allows organizations to keep track of changes, maintain consistency, and ensure content is up-to-date. DITA’s structured approach makes it easier to implement version control strategies effectively.

Versioning of Topics

In DITA, each content component, or topic, can be versioned. This means that whenever there are updates or changes to a topic, a new version is created. The version information typically includes a version number and a date.

Example:

Here’s an example of how version control is applied to a shared content component in DITA:

<topic id="math_lesson1">
  <title>Lesson 1: Introduction to Algebra</title>
  <version>1.0</version>
  <last-modified>2023-08-15</last-modified>
  <content>...

In this example, “Lesson 1: Introduction to Algebra” is the topic, and it has an initial version of 1.0 with a last modification date of August 15, 2023.

Change Tracking

Change tracking mechanisms are often implemented to record what specific modifications have been made to a topic. This helps in identifying the exact nature of changes and who made them. DITA tools may provide features for tracking changes and annotations within topics.

Reuse Across Documents

With version control, shared content components can be efficiently reused across multiple documents. When a change is made to a component, it automatically reflects in all documents that use that component. This ensures consistency and reduces the effort required to update content in various educational materials.