Documentation Center

Maps

A map is a collection of topics. It plays an essential part in modular writing.

Definition

A map is used to group topics under a purpose and a title. The map keeps track of:
  • Which topics are part of the group.
  • The order of the topics, which one comes first, second, etc.
  • The hierarchy of the topics. When topics are parent to other topics, the map saves that information.

When a map is added to a Draft Space document, the topics referenced in that map are added to the document and the specific organization of the topics is reproduced as well.

Maps can also contain other maps. The container is called the parent map, and the map inside the parent are called the child map. When a map contains another, the parent map references the child map and its position in the structure.

Usage

Content authors and architects create a map when they need to define a chunk of content that could be reused, or that should be moved around as a single unit, but is itself made of smaller parts that could evolve independently.

The map has an object title and other properties but the title does not get to be published. The title is how the map can be seen in the lists of objects in the Repository. That is why the title and the description should reflect how the map should be used.

Maps are very often used in multiple documents. For example, imagine a map containing the topics that describe an internal combustion engine. It could be used as introductory chapter in a Draft Space document focused on internal combustion engines, or it could be one of many chapters in a document focused on cars.

Draft Space shows where the maps are in the document, and lets you change the content of a map easily: you can move topics around in the Draft Space document from a map to another, but also add topics to or remove topics from maps in the document. However, you need to be aware of the high reuse potential of the map whenever you are about to change its content: your changes may affect other documents.