###### 3.2.4.1.7 glossAlternateFor

The <glossAlternateFor> element indicates when a variant term has a relationship to another variant term as well as to the preferred term.

The <glossAlternateFor> element is available inside the <glossAlt> element, which is a container that provides a variant for the primary glossentry term. In some cases, the variant may also be an alternate for another term. In the example below, the abbreviation "stick" is a variant of the primary term (USB flash drive). The <glossAlternateFor> element indicates that "stick" is also a variant of the synonym "memory stick".

###### Contains

Doctype | Content model
ditabase, glossary, glossentry, glossgroup | no content

###### Contained by

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

###### Inheritance

- topic/xref concept/xref glossentry/glossAlternateFor

###### Example

The glossary term "USB flash drive" with additional information

    <glossentry id="usbfd">
      <glossterm>USB flash drive</glossterm>
      <glossdef>A small portable drive.</glossdef>
      <glossBody>
        <glossPartOfSpeech value="noun"/>
        <glossUsage>Do not provide in upper case (as in "USB Flash
    Drive") because that suggests a trademark.</glossUsage>
        <glossAlt>
          <glossAcronym>UFD</glossAcronym>
          <glossUsage>Explain the acronym on first occurrence.</glossUsage>
        </glossAlt>
        <glossAlt id="memoryStick">
          <glossSynonym>memory stick</glossSynonym>
          <glossUsage>This is a colloquial term.</glossUsage>
        </glossAlt>
        <glossAlt>
          <glossAbbreviation>stick</glossAbbreviation>
          <glossStatus value="prohibited"/>
          <glossUsage>This is too colloquial.</glossUsage>
          <glossAlternateFor href="#usbfd/memoryStick"/>
        </glossAlt>
        <glossAlt>
          <glossAbbreviation>flash</glossAbbreviation>
          <glossStatus value="prohibited"/>
          <glossUsage>This short form is ambiguous.</glossUsage>
        </glossAlt>
      </glossBody>
    </glossentry>

###### Attributes

Name | Description | Data Type | Default Value | Required?
href | References a term for which the current variant is an alternate (in addition to the primary term of this glossentry topic). The reference will often be to another glossAlt element within the same glossentry topic, indicating that the current variant is an alternate for both the primary term and the referenced alternate term. | CDATA | #IMPLIED | No
type | Describes the target of a reference. See 3.4.2.8 The type attribute for detailed information on supported values and processing implications. | CDATA | #IMPLIED | No
format | The format attribute identifies the format of the resource being referenced. See 3.4.2.9 The format attribute for details on supported values. | CDATA | #IMPLIED | No
scope | The scope attribute identifies the closeness of the relationship between the current document and the target resource. See 3.4.2.10 The scope attribute for more information on values. | (local | peer | external | -dita-use-​conref-​target) | #IMPLIED | No
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, keyref | Class and outputclass are described in 3.4.1.9 Other common DITA attributes |  |  |

Previous Topic: 3.2.4.1.6 glossAlt

Next Topic: 3.2.4.1.8 glossBody

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

3.2.4.1.8 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

3.2.4.1.14 glossSurfaceForm

3.2.4.1.15 glossSymbol

3.2.4.1.16 glossSynonym

3.2.4.1.17 glossUsage