In DITA, parent maps and child maps are used to organize content hierarchically. A parent map is the top-level map that serves as the main entry point to a documentation project, while child maps are subsidiary maps that can be referenced or included within parent maps, allowing for modular content organization.

Parent Maps and Child Maps in DITA

Parent maps and child maps are components of DITA documentation organization:

Parent Maps

Parent maps are top-level maps in a DITA project. They typically serve as the starting point for a documentation set and can include references to child maps and individual topics. Parent maps provide a high-level structure for the entire documentation project.

Child Maps

Child maps are subsidiary maps that contain specific sets of topics related to a particular subject, section, or topic type. Child maps can be referenced or included within parent maps, allowing for the organization of content into smaller, manageable units. Child maps provide detailed structures for specific portions of the documentation.

Example

A software documentation project features a parent map and two child maps:

Parent Map (software-manual.ditamap)

<!DOCTYPE map PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Map//EN" "map.dtd">
<map>
  <title>Software Manual</title>
  <topicref href="introduction.dita" />
  <topicref href="software-features.dita" />
  <topicref href="installation.dita" />
  <topicref href="troubleshooting.dita" />
  <!-- Reference to child maps -->
  <topicref href="user-guide.ditamap" />
  <topicref href="admin-guide.ditamap" />
</map>
    

Child Map 1 (user-guide.ditamap)

<!DOCTYPE map PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Map//EN" "map.dtd">
<map>
  <title>User Guide</title>
  <topicref href="user-overview.dita" />
  <topicref href="user-tasks.dita" />
</map>
    

Child Map 2 (admin-guide.ditamap)

<!DOCTYPE map PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Map//EN" "map.dtd">
<map>
  <title>Admin Guide</title>
  <topicref href="admin-overview.dita" />
  <topicref href="admin-tasks.dita" />
</map>
    

In this example:

• “software-manual.ditamap” is the parent map, representing the main software manual. It includes references to child maps “user-guide.ditamap” and “admin-guide.ditamap.”
• “user-guide.ditamap” and “admin-guide.ditamap” are child maps that provide detailed structures for the user guide and admin guide sections, respectively. These child maps contain references to individual topics within their specific scope.