Home > Appendix > DITA 1.3 specification > Language reference: All-inclusive edition > Technical content elements > Troubleshooting elements > cause

<cause>

The <cause> element describes a potential source of the problem that is described in the <condition> element, the topic <title> element, or the <shortdesc> element. This information should be brief; if it is not possible to make the information brief, this might be a sign that a full troubleshooting topic is needed

Content models

See appendix for information about this element in OASIS document type shells.

Inheritance

- topic/section troubleshooting/cause

Example

See troubleshooting.

Attributes

The following attributes are available on this element: Universal attribute group, outputclass, and spectitle.