###### 3.2.4.1.14 glossSurfaceForm

The <glossSurfaceForm> element specifies an unambiguous presentation of the <glossterm> that may combine multiple forms. The surface form is suitable to introduce the term in new contexts.

The <glossSurfaceForm> element is most often used for terms that also specify the <glossAcronym> element. In that case it contains the term in a manner that introduces both the term and the acronym, so that later references to the term may be replaced with the acronym alone. See the <abbreviated-form> element for a full description of how the surface form is used together with acronyms.

###### Contains

Doctype | Content model
ditabase, glossary, glossentry, glossgroup | ( text data or keyword or apiname or option or parmname or cmdname or msgnum or varname or wintitle or term or abbreviated-form or tm) (any number)

###### Contained by

Doctype | Content model
ditabase, glossary, glossentry, glossgroup | glossBody

###### Inheritance

- topic/p concept/p glossentry/glossSurfaceForm

###### Example

    <glossentry id="abs">
      <glossterm>Anti-lock Braking System</glossterm>
      <glossBody>
        <glossSurfaceForm>Anti-lock Braking System (ABS)</glossSurfaceForm>
        <glossAlt>
          <glossAcronym>ABS</glossAcronym>
        </glossAlt>
      </glossBody>
    </glossentry>

This glossentry topic defines "Anti-lock Braking System (ABS)" provides an unambiguous way to render the primary term "Anti-lock Braking System". The <abbreviated-form> explains how the <glossSurfaceForm> element affects references to this topic.

###### Attributes

Name | Description | Data Type | Default Value | Required?
univ-atts attribute group (includes select-atts, id-atts, and localization-atts groups) | A set of related attributes, described in 3.4.1.3 univ-atts attribute group |  |  |
global-atts attribute group (xtrf, xtrc) | A set of related attributes, described in 3.4.1.2 global-atts attribute group |  |  |
class, outputclass | Common attributes described in 3.4.1.9 Other common DITA attributes |  |  |

Previous Topic: 3.2.4.1.13 glossStatus

Next Topic: 3.2.4.1.15 glossSymbol

Parent Topic: 3.2.4.1 Glossentry elements

Sibling Topics:

3.2.4.1.1 glossentry

3.2.4.1.2 glossterm

3.2.4.1.3 glossdef

3.2.4.1.4 glossAbbreviation

3.2.4.1.5 glossAcronym

3.2.4.1.6 glossAlt

3.2.4.1.7 glossAlternateFor

3.2.4.1.8 glossBody

3.2.4.1.9 glossPartOfSpeech

3.2.4.1.10 glossProperty

3.2.4.1.11 glossScopeNote

3.2.4.1.12 glossShortForm

3.2.4.1.13 glossStatus

3.2.4.1.15 glossSymbol

3.2.4.1.16 glossSynonym

3.2.4.1.17 glossUsage