lc_bp_reuse.dita

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<!DOCTYPE learningContent PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Learning Content//EN" "learningContent.dtd">
<learningContent id="content_ptp_gqy_lt">
    <title>Keep an eye toward reuse</title>
    <prolog>
        <author href="http://www.scriptorium.com" scope="external" format="html">Simon Bate,
            Scriptorium</author>
        <critdates>
            <created date="2015-09-25"/>
        </critdates>
    </prolog>
    <learningContentbody>
        <lcIntro>
            <p>Although the LearningDITA courses have not yet covered reuse (which is one of the
                advantages of DITA), task topics contain many potential areas for reuse. </p>
            <p>As you create the steps in your tasks, watch out for steps that are the same from one
                task to another, such
                as:<pre>&lt;step>&lt;cmd>Click &lt;uicontrol>OK&lt;/uicontrol>.&lt;/cmd>&lt;/step></pre>
            </p>
            <p>You might create a series of tasks that all begin with the same set of step to start
                the process, such as shutting down the equipment, or removing access panels.
                Similarly, a series of tasks might use a common set of steps to finish the
                procedure. These are excellent candidates for reuse. </p>
            <p>Another common area for reuse in task topics is standard text, such as cautions or
                warnings that accompany steps in many procedures. </p>
            <p>In addition to reusing the &lt;step> element, the &lt;prereq>, &lt;example>,
                &lt;choices>, and &lt;choicetable> elements in a task are all good candidates for
                reuse. </p>
            <p>Reuse is another reason to plan your tasks, as described in the first topic of this
                Best Practices lesson. When doing your task planning, it is useful to identify steps
                that are common to many tasks. An important aspect of reuse is to identify the
                elements that you need to reuse and then maintain those elements in a separate file
                (or files). Once approved, these files can be secured so that they are modified only
                when necessary. </p>
        </lcIntro>
    </learningContentbody>
</learningContent>