3.2.4.1.6 glossAlt

The <glossAlt> element contains a variant term for the preferred term. The variant should have the same meaning as the term in the <glossterm> element; the variant is simply another way to refer to the same term. There may be many ways to refer to a term; each variant is placed in its own <glossAlt> element. The <glossUsage> element may be used within <glossAlt> to indicate when use of the alternate term is appropriate.

Any list of alternative terms is, of course, specific to the language, so translation of a glossentry topic may result in empty elements within a <glossAlt> container.

Contains

Doctype	Content model
ditabase, glossary, glossentry, glossgroup	( (glossAbbreviation or glossAcronym or glossShortForm or glossSynonym ) (optional) then (glossStatus ) (optional) then (glossProperty ) (any number) then (glossUsage ) (optional) then (note or hazardstatement ) (any number) then (glossAlternateFor ) (any number) )

Contained by

Doctype	Content model
ditabase, glossary, glossentry, glossgroup	glossBody

Inheritance

- topic/section concept/section glossentry/glossAlt

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?
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