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Content re-use
Re-use practices
Re-using content from different elements
When re-using content through the conref feature, the referenced element type must match the referencing element type.

Introduction
Information types and topics
Topics are the building blocks of modular documents, and organising topics by semantic information types is one of the architectural features of DITA.
DITA map files
Syntax and mark-up
Language and punctuation
Graphics and figures
Cross-referencing
Cross-references are a means of binding individual topics into a coherent and navigable document.
Content re-use
- Content re-use definition
  Content re-use is a means of improving efficiency by eliminating repetition of phrases, blocks of text, topics, and even collections of topics.
- Re-use and the DITA Maturity Model
  Content re-use is one of the features that you should adopt early in your move from style-based authoring to structured authoring with DITA.
- The content reference (conref) attribute
  The conref feature allows DITA content to be used in any number of different places in a collection. The conref attribute in a referencing topic specifies the source topic and the element within that topic to re-use.
- Re-use practices
  - Writing for re-use
    You should embrace a style or method of writing that produces content suitable for re-use. This method includes an aim to minimise context.
  - Re-use guidelines
    Re-use guidelines can help simplify the practice of writing for re-use.
  - Valid referencing elements
    When using a conref in a topic to transclude text from another topic, the referencing element must be valid DITA XML.
  - The -dita-use-conref-target attribute value
    A special attribute value of -dita-use-conref-target can be used to force the attribute value of the source of a conref to be used in the referencing element.
  - Re-using content from different elements
    When re-using content through the conref feature, the referenced element type must match the referencing element type.
  - Nested content references
    Content references can be nested inside other content references.
- Variables
- Organising re-use topics and elements
- Embedded topics and ditamaps
  The ditamap is a powerful tool for re-using topics in different output publications. Topics can also be re-used using ditabase topics, but you should avoid this technique.
- Advanced conref principles
Metadata, conditional processing, and indexing
The DITA documentation process
DITA authoring concepts
Moving from style-based authoring to a structured authoring methodology such as DITA requires a radically different approach to writing.

Re-using content from different elements

When re-using content through the conref feature, the referenced element type must match the referencing element type.

You cannot re-use the text of one element directly inside the text of another.

For example, you cannot conref the text of a paragraph (p) element into a note element as in:

<p id="wiper_blades">...</p>
...

<note conref="conref_source.dita#cref_terms/wiper_blades" />

The referenced element must match the referencing element.

When transcluding phrase elements, you can work around the matching elements requirement that by wrapping the text to be re-used in a generic phrase (ph) element. You can then re-use the ph element within other elements.

For example, if you want to re-use the words STi Web Site within normal paragraph text, as a citation (cite) element, and within cross-reference elements, you can use the approach:

<ph id="sti_web">STi Web Site</ph>
...

<p>
  The <ph conref="conref_source.dita#cref_terms/sti_web" />...
</p>

<p>
  As listed on the <cite><ph conref="conref_source.dita#cref_terms/sti_web" /></cite>
</p>

<xref href="http://sti.Supara.com.au" scope="external" format="html">
		<ph conref="conref_source.dita#cref_terms/sti_web" />
</xref>

DITA 1.2 introduced the text element. Use this element in preference to the ph element for re-using text snippets.