@xml:lang attribute The @xml:lang attribute specifies the language and (optional) locale
of the element content. The @xml:lang attribute applies to all attributes
and content of the element where it is specified, unless it is overridden with
@xml:lang on another element within that content.
The @xml:lang attribute SHOULD be explicitly set on the root element of each
map and topic.
Setting the @xml:lang attribute in the DITA source ensures that
processors handle content in a language- and locale-appropriate way. If the
@xml:lang attribute is not set, processors assume a default
value which might not be appropriate for the DITA content. When the
@xml:lang attribute is specified for a document, DITA processors
MUST use the specified
value to determine the language of the document.
Setting the @xml:lang attribute in the source language document
facilitates the translation process; it enables translation tools (or translators)
to simply change the value of the existing @xml:lang attribute to
the value of the target language. Some translation tools support changing the value
of an existing @xml:lang attribute, but they do not support adding
new markup to the document that is being translated. Therefore, if source language
content does not set the @xml:lang attribute, it might be difficult
or impossible for the translator to add the @xml:lang attribute to
the translated document.
If the root element of a map or a top-level topic has no value for
the@xml:lang attribute , a processor SHOULD assume a default value.
The default value of the processor can be either fixed, configurable, or derived
from the content itself, such as the @xml:lang attribute on the root
map.
The @xml:lang attribute is described in the XML Recommendation. Note that the recommended style for the
@xml:lang attribute is lowercase language and (optional)
uppercase, separated by a hyphen, for example, "en-US" or "sp-SP" or "fr". According to RFC 5646, Tags for Identifying
Languages, language codes are case insensitive.
For a DITA topic that contains a single language, set the @xml:lang
attribute on the highest-level element that contains content.
When a DITA topic contains more than one language, set the @xml:lang
attribute on the highest-level element to specify the primary language and
locale that applies to the topic. If part of a topic is written in a
different language, authors should ensure that the part is enclosed in an element
with the @xml:lang attribute set appropriately. This method of
overriding the default document language applies to both block and inline elements
that use the alternate language. Processors SHOULD style each element in a way that is appropriate
for its language as identified by the @xml:lang attribute.
The @xml:lang attribute can be specified on the <map>
element. The @xml:lang attribute cascades within the map in the same
way that it cascades within a topic. However, since the @xml:lang
attribute is an inherent property of the XML document, the value of the
@xml:lang attribute does not cascade from one map to another or
from a map to a topic; the value of the @xml:lang attribute that is
specified in a map does not override @xml:lang values that are
specified in other maps or in topics.
The primary language for the map SHOULD
be set on the <map> element. The specified language remains
in effect for all child <topicref> elements, unless a child
specifies a different value for the @xml:lang attribute.
When no @xml:lang value is supplied locally or on an ancestor, a
processor-determined default value is assumed.
@conref or @conkeyref
attributeWhen a @conref or @conkeyref attribute is used to
include content from one element into another, the processor MUST use the effective value of
the @xml:lang attribute from the referenced element, that is, the
element that contains the content. If the referenced element does not have an
explicit value for the @xml:lang attribute, the processor SHOULD default to using the same
value that is used for topics that do not set the @xml:lang
attribute.
This behavior is shown in the following example, where the value of the
@xml:lang attribute of the included note is obtained from its
parent <section> element that sets the
@xml:lang attribute to "fr". When the
installingAcme.dita topic is processed, the
<note> element with the @id attribute set
to "mynote" has an effective value for the @xml:lang attribute of
"fr".
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE task PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Task//EN" "task.dtd">
<task xml:lang="en" id="install_acme">
<title>Installing Acme</title>
<shortdesc>Step-by-step details about how to install Acme.</shortdesc>
<taskbody>
<prereq>
<p>Special notes when installing Acme in France:</p>
<note id="mynote" conref="warningsAcme.dita#topic_warnings/frenchwarnings"/>
</prereq>
</taskbody>
</task>
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE topic PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Topic//EN" "topic.dtd">
<topic id="topic_warnings">
<title>Warnings</title>
<body>
<section id="qqwwee" xml:lang="fr">
<title>French warnings</title>
<p>These are our French warnings.</p>
<note id="frenchwarnings">Note in French!</note>
</section>
<section xml:lang="en">
<title>English warnings</title>
<p>These are our English warnings.</p>
<note id="englishwarnings">Note in English!</note>
</section>
</body>
</topic>