Documentation Center

Maps

A map defines the logical order and the hierarchical relations of the topics it contains.

What does a map contain?

In simplest terms, a map are a collection of references to topics or other maps:

In more technical terms, the map object is a DITA XML file that contains a list of links to topics and other maps. Maps do not contain any content of their own. .

Maps within a Publication

Maps are organized inside a publication.

When you add a map to a Publication (a document in Draft Space), all of the topics referenced in the map are added to the a Publication (a document in Draft Space) , including the specific organization of the topics. ,

Maps for content reuse

Content authors and architects create a map when they need to define a chunk of content that can be reused, or that should be moved around as a single unit.

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.

When you change the content of a map by adding or removing topics or even by moving topics around, always keep in mind that your changes may affect other documents in which the same map is used.