keydef.md

author	publisher
Larry Kollar	Oje Media

Setting up Keydefs

Keydefs provide a way to insert and resolve variable data in topics. This makes reusing topics easier, because you can easily change (for example) a product name or model number without changing the topic.

You define keydefs (a/k/a variables) in the book map, either directly or by creating a separate map file and using the <mapref> element to refer to it. Each method has certain advantages:

• If you have a set of related documents, create a separate map and reuse it.
• For variables unique to one document, add them to the book map.

Each <keydef> is a series of nested elements, defining its name and value:

<keydef keys="prodname">
    <topicmeta>
        <keywords>
            <keyword>Feechurr</keyword>
        </keywords>
    </topicmeta>
</keydef>

In your XDITA topics, use the following element to insert the variable:

<ph keyref="prodname"/>

In HDITA and MDITA topics, use this element:

<span data-hd-keyref="prodname"/>