I. DocBook Element Reference
This reference describes every element in the DocBook DTD.
Elements marked 
are new
in DocBook V3.1, which was released in February, 1999.
1. Organization of Reference Pages
The description of each element in this reference is divided into the following sections:
- Synopsis
Provides a quick synopsis of the element. The content of the synopsis table varies according to the nature of the element described, but may include any or all of the following sections:
- Content Model or Declared Content
Describes the content model of the element in SGML/XML DTD terms. See Section 1.1."
- Inclusions
Lists "inclusions." Inclusions are an SGML feature. Included elements can appear anywhere inside the element that includes them, even in places that aren't ordinarily valid. For example, Chapter includes IndexTerm. This means that within a Chapter, IndexTerm can appear inside Emphasis, for instance, even though the content model of Emphasis does not explicitly allow IndexTerms.
- Exclusions
Lists "exclusions." Exclusions are an SGML feature. Excluded elements cannot appear anywhere inside the element that excludes them, even in places that are ordinarily valid. For example, Footnote excludes Fotnote. This means that a Footnote cannot appear inside a Para inside a Footnote, even though Footnote appears in the content model of Para.
Lists elements that are excluded from appearing at any level below the element described.
- Attributes
Provides a synopsis of the attributes on the element. For brevity, common attributes are described only once, in this introduction.
- Tag Minimization
Indicates if start- or end-tags may be omitted. Tag omission is dependent on both the DTD and your SGML declaration. If a tag is described as ommissable here, it is ommissible if your declaration allows tag omission. The standard DocBook declaration does not.
- Parameter Entities
Lists the parameter entities in which the element described appears. Parameter entities are important when you are customizing the DTD.
- Description
Describes the semantics of the element in detail.
- Processing expectations
Summarizes specific formatting expectations of the element. Many processing expectations are influenced by attribute values. Be sure to consult the description of element attributes as well.
- Future changes
Identifies changes that are scheduled for future versions of the DTD. These changes are highlighted because they involve some backward-incompatability that may make currently valid DocBook documents no longer valid under the new version.
- Attributes
- See Also
- Examples
Provides examples of proper usage for the element. Generally, the smallest example required to reasonably demonstrate the element is used. In many cases, a formatted version of the example is also shown.
All of the examples printed in the book use the SGML version of DocBook. The CD-ROM includes the full text of all of the examples.
Formatted examples are indicated using a vertical bar.
1.1. Understanding Content Models
Each element synopsis begins with a concise description of the elements it can contain. This description is in DTD "content model" syntax, with all parameter entities expanded.
Content models are the way that DTDs describe the name, number, and order of other elements that may be used inside an element. The primary feature of content model syntax is that it is concise, but this conciseness comes at the cost of legibility until you are familiar with the syntax.
There are six components to content model syntax: element names, keywords, repetitions, sequences, alternatives, and groups.
- Element names
An element name in a content model indicates that an element of that type may (or must) occur at that position.
A content model of Para indicates that the element must contain a single paragraph.
- Keywords
There are two keywords that occur in the content models of DocBook elements: EMPTY, and #PCDATA.
A content model that consists of the single keyword EMPTY identifes an element as an empty element. Empty elements are not allowed to have any content. In order for the word "EMPTY" to have this special meaning, it must be the first and only word in the content model. The word "EMPTY" at any other place is treated as an element name.
The #PCDATA keyword indicates that text may occur at that position. The text may consist of entity references and any characters that are legal in the document character set. For XML documents, the document character set is always Unicode. In SGML the declaration can identify character sets and ranges that are allowed. DocBook SGML documents use the ISO Latin 1 character set.
- Repetitions
An unadorned element name indicates that an element must occur exactly once at that position. A content model can also specify that an element may occur zero or more times, one or more times, or exactly zero or one time. This is accomplished by following the element name with one of the following characters: * for zero or more times, + for one or more times, or ? for exactly zero or one times.
A content model of Para+ indicates that the element must contain at least one paragraph and may contain many.
- Sequences
If element names in a content model are separated by commas, then they must occur in sequence.
A content model of Title, Para indicates that the element must contain a single title followed by a single paragraph.
- Alternatives
If element names in a content model are separated by vertical bars (|), then they are alternatives. These are sometimes called "or groups" because they require the selection of one or another element.
A content model of Phrase | Para indicates that the element must contain either a single phrase or a single paragraph.
In SGML, there is another connector: the ampersand (&). The ampersand is a kind of combination of alternative and sequence, which means that all of the elements must occur, but they can occur in any order. DocBook does not have any content models that use the ampersand connector. XML does not allow it.
- Groups
Finally, parenthesis may be used around part of a content model. A group formed this way can have repetition indicators and may occur as part of a sequence.
A content model of (Literal | Replaceable)+ indicates that either Literal or Replaceable must occur and they can be repeated (and mixed) any number of times.
1.1.1. Content models and validity
A parser uses the content models to determine if a given document is valid. In order for a document to be valid, the content of every element in the document must "match" the content model for that element.
In practical terms, match means that it must be possible to expand the content model until it exactly matches the sequence of elements in the document.
For example, consider the content model of the Epigraph element: Attribution?, (FormalPara | Para | SimPara)+. This indicates that the following document fragment is valid:
<epigraph> <para>Some text</para> </epigraph>
It is valid because the following expansion of the content model exactly matches the actual content: choose zero occurances of Attribution, choose the alternative Para from the group, and choose to let the "+" match once.
By the same token, this example is not valid because there is no expansion of the content model that can match it:
<epigraph> <para>Some text</para> <attribution>John Doe</attribution> </epigraph>
There is one additional restriction on the matching ability of the parser: it is not allowed to "look ahead." This means that there are many useful content models that are ambiguous.
1.1.2. Ambiguity
Ambiguity is not allowed. The parser must always be able to choose exactly what to match based upon the next input token. Consider the following content model: Meta*, Title?, Meta*.
The intent is clear: to allow some meta-information and a single, optional Title. But this content model is ambiguous for the following reason: if the document content begins with a Meta element, it is impossible to tell if it matches the Meta before the Title or after without looking ahead.
Ambiguous content models are detected by the parser when it reads the DTD. It is not sufficient that your document simply be unambiguous; it must not be possible to construct any ambiguous document.
1.1.3. #PCDATA and repetition
The #PCDATA keyword can always match the empty string. This makes it impossible to force an element that may contain characters not to be empty. In other words, the following content model does not guarantee that the element is not empty: (#PCDATA)+.
In XML, the #PCDATA keyword is only allowed in optional, repeatable "or groups", and it must be the first member of the group.
2. Common Attributes
The following attributes occur on all elements. They are summarized here once for brevity and to make the additional attributes that occur on many elements stand out.
Name | Type | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Arch | CDATA | None |
| Conformance | NMTOKENS | None |
| ID | ID | None/Requireda |
| Lang | CDATA | None |
| OS | CDATA | None |
| Remap | CDATA | None |
| Role | CDATA | None |
| Revision | CDATA | None |
| RevisionFlag | Enumerated: | None |
| UserLevel | CDATA | None |
| Vendor | CDATA | None |
| XrefLabel | CDATA | None |
| Notes: a. On a few elements, the ID is required, but on most it is not. | ||
- Arch
Arch designates the computer or chip architecture to which the element applies.
- Conformance
Conformance indicates standards conformance characteristics of the item contained in the element. These characteristics are application-specific. DocBook provides no defaults.
- ID
ID is an identifying string for the element. It must be unique at least within the document and must begin with a letter.
- Lang
Lang should be a language code drawn from ISO 639 (perhaps extended with a country code drawn from ISO 3166, as en_US). Use it when you need to signal your application to change hyphenation and other display characteristics.
- OS
OS indicates the operating system to which the element is applicable.
- Remap
Remap contains an element name or similar semantic identifier assigned to the content in a previous markup scheme.
- Role
Role contains a string used to classify or subclassify an element.
While Role is a common attribute in the sense that it occurs on almost all elements, it is not part of either of the common attributes parameter entities (
%common.attrib; or%idreq.common.attrib; ). It is parameterized differently because it is useful to be able to subclass Role independently on different elements.- Revision
Revision indicates the editorial revision to which the element belongs.
- RevisionFlag
RevisionFlag indicates the revision status of element; the default is that the element hasn't been revised. RevisionFlag is intended only for simple revision management: to track the entire history of a document use a proper revision control system. Use RevisionFlag for indicating changes from one version to the next, no more.
- UserLevel
UserLevel indicates the level of user experience to which element applies.
- Vendor
Vendor indicates the computer vendor to which the element applies.
- XrefLabel
XrefLabel holds text to be used when a cross reference (XRef) is made to the element.
3. Attribute Types
SGML offers a small selection of attribute types. (XML offers a subset of these.) For convenience, a brief description of each of these types is provided here:
- CDATA
- NUMBER
A number. Numbers must begin with a hyphen or digit and can include the decimal point.
- NMTOKEN
A sequence of name characters (letters, digits, hyphens, and periods). This differs from a CDATA attribute because it cannot contain spaces, punctuation, or other non-name characters.
- NMTOKENS
A sequence of one or more space-delimited NMTOKEN values.
- NUTOKEN
A sequence of number characters (digits, hyphens, and periods). This differs from a NUMBER field because it is not required to begin with a digit or a hyphen.
- ENTITY
An entity name. The value of an ENTITY attribute must be the name of a declared entity.
- NAME
A name. A name must begin with a letter and can consist of letters, digits, hyphens, and periods.
- NAMES
A sequence of one or more space-delimited NAME values.
- ID
An ID. IDs are names that must be globally unique within the document. The ID attribute declares the ID.
- IDREF
An single ID. IDs are names that must be globally unique within the document. The value of an IDREF attribute must be the name of an ID attribute defined in the document.
- IDREFS
- Table of Contents
- Abbrev — An abbreviation, especially one followed by a period
- Abstract — A summary
- Accel — A graphical user interface (GUI) keyboard shortcut
- Ackno — Acknowledgements in an Article
- Acronym — An often pronounceable word made from the initial (or selected) letters of a name or phrase
- Action — A response to a user event
- Address — A real-world address, generally a postal address
- Affiliation — The institutional affiliation of an individual
- Alt — Text representation for a graphical element
- Anchor — A spot in the document
- Answer — An answer to a question posed in a QandASet
- Appendix — An appendix in a Book or Article
- Application — The name of a software program
- Area — A region defined for a Callout in a graphic or code example
- AreaSet — A set of related areas in a graphic or code example
- AreaSpec — A collection of regions in a graphic or code example
- Arg — An argument in a CmdSynopsis
- ArtHeader — Meta-information for an Article
- Article — An article
- ArtPageNums — The page numbers of an article as published
- Attribution — The source of a block quote or epigraph
- AudioData — Pointer to external audio data
- AudioObject — A wrapper for audio data and its associated meta-information
- Author — The name of an individual author
- AuthorBlurb — A short description or note about an author
- AuthorGroup — Wrapper for author information when a document has multiple authors or collabarators
- AuthorInitials — The initials or other short identifier for an author
- BeginPage — The location of a page break in a print version of the document
- BiblioDiv — A section of a Bibliography
- BiblioEntry — An entry in a Bibliography
- Bibliography — A bibliography
- BiblioMisc — Untyped bibliographic information
- BiblioMixed — An entry in a Bibliography
- BiblioMSet — A "cooked" container for related bibliographic information
- BiblioSet — A "raw" container for related bibliographic information
- BlockQuote — A quotation set off from the main text
- Book — A book
- BookBiblio — Meta-information about a book used in a bibliographical citation
- BookInfo — Meta-information for a Book
- BridgeHead — A free-floating heading
- Callout — A "called out" description of a marked Area
- CalloutList — A list of Callouts
- Caption — A caption
- Caution — A note of caution
- Chapter — A chapter, as of a book
- Citation — An inline bibliographic reference to another published work
- CiteRefEntry — A citation to a reference page
- CiteTitle — The title of a cited work
- City — The name of a city in an address
- ClassName — The name of a class, in the object-oriented programming sense
- CmdSynopsis — A syntax summary for a software command
- CO — The location of a callout embedded in text
- Collab — Identifies a collaborator
- CollabName — The name of a collaborator
- Colophon — Text at the back of a book describing facts about its production
- colspec — Specifications for a column in a table
- Command — The name of an executable program or other software command
- Comment — A comment intended for presentation in a draft manuscript
- ComputerOutput — Data, generally text, displayed or presented by a computer
- ConfDates — The dates of a conference for which a document was written
- ConfGroup — A wrapper for document meta-information about a conference
- ConfNum — An identifier, frequently numerical, associated with a conference for which a document was written
- ConfSponsor — The sponsor of a conference for which a document was written
- ConfTitle — The title of a conference for which a document was written
- Constant — A programming or system constant
- ContractNum — The contract number of a document
- ContractSponsor — The sponsor of a contract
- Contrib — A summary of the contributions made to a document by a credited source
- Copyright — Copyright information about a document
- CorpAuthor — A corporate author, as opposed to an individual
- CorpName — The name of a corporation
- Country — The name of a country
- Database — The name of a database, or part of a database
- Date — The date of publication or revision of a document
- Dedication — A wrapper for the dedication section of a book
- DocInfo — Meta-data for a book component
- Edition — The name or number of an edition of a document
- Editor — The name of the editor of a document
- Email — An email address
- Emphasis — Emphasized text
- entry — A cell in a table
- entrytbl — A subtable appearing in place of an Entry in a table
- EnVar — A software environment variable
- Epigraph — A short inscription at the beginning of a document or component
- Equation — A displayed mathematical equation
- ErrorCode — An error code
- ErrorName — An error message
- ErrorType — The classification of an error message
- Example — A formal example, with a title
- Fax — A fax number
- Figure — A formal figure, generally an illustration, with a title
- Filename — The name of a file
- FirstName — The first name of a person
- FirstTerm — The first occurrence of a term
- Footnote — A footnote
- FootnoteRef — A cross reference to a footnote (a footnote mark)
- ForeignPhrase — A word or phrase in a language other than the primary language of the document
- FormalPara — A paragraph with a title
- FuncDef — A function (subroutine) name and its return type
- FuncParams — Parameters for a function referenced through a function pointer in a synopsis
- FuncPrototype — The prototype of a function
- FuncSynopsis — The syntax summary for a function definition
- FuncSynopsisInfo — Information supplementing the FuncDefs of a FuncSynopsis
- Function — The name of a function or subroutine, as in a programming language
- Glossary — A glossary
- GlossDef — A definition in a GlossEntry
- GlossDiv — A division in a Glossary
- GlossEntry — An entry in a Glossary or GlossList
- GlossList — A wrapper for a set of GlossEntrys
- GlossSee — A cross-reference from one GlossEntry to another
- GlossSeeAlso — A cross-reference from one GlossEntry to another
- GlossTerm — A glossary term
- Graphic — A displayed graphical object (not an inline)
- GraphicCO — A graphic that contains callout areas
- Group — A group of elements in a CmdSynopsis
- GUIButton — The text on a button in a GUI
- GUIIcon — Graphic and/or text appearing as a icon in a GUI
- GUILabel — The text of a label in a GUI
- GUIMenu — The name of a menu in a GUI
- GUIMenuItem — The name of a terminal menu item in a GUI
- GUISubmenu — The name of a submenu in a GUI
- Hardware — A physical part of a computer system
- Highlights — A summary of the main points of the discussed component
- Holder — The name of the individual or organization that holds a copyright
- Honorific — The title of a person
- ImageData — Pointer to external image data
- ImageObject — A wrapper for image data and its associated meta-information
- ImageObjectCO — A wrapper for an image object with callouts
- Important — An admonition set off from the text
- Index — An index
- IndexDiv — A division in an index
- IndexEntry — An entry in an index
- IndexTerm — A wrapper for terms to be indexed
- InformalEquation — A displayed mathematical equation without a title
- InformalExample — A displayed example without a title
- InformalFigure — A untitled figure
- InformalTable — A table without a title
- InlineEquation — A mathematical equation or expression occurring inline
- InlineGraphic — An object containing or pointing to graphical data that will be rendered inline
- InlineMediaObject — An inline media object (video, audio, image, and so on)
- Interface — An element of a GUI
- InterfaceDefinition — The name of a formal specification of a GUI
- InvPartNumber — An inventory part number
- ISBN — The International Standard Book Number of a document
- ISSN — The International Standard Serial Number of a periodical
- IssueNum — The number of an issue of a journal
- ItemizedList — A list in which each entry is marked with a bullet or other dingbat
- ITermSet — A set of index terms in the meta-information of a document
- JobTitle — The title of an individual in an organization
- KeyCap — The text printed on a key on a keyboard
- KeyCode — The internal, frequently numeric, identifier for a key on a keyboard
- KeyCombo — A combination of input actions
- KeySym — The symbolic name of a key on a keyboard
- Keyword — One of a set of keywords describing the content of a document
- KeywordSet — A set of keywords describing the content of a document
- Label — A label on a Question or Answer
- LegalNotice — A statement of legal obligations or requirements
- Lineage — The portion of a person's name indicating a relationship to ancestors
- LineAnnotation — A comment on a line in a verbatim listing
- Link — A hypertext link
- ListItem — A wrapper for the elements of a list item
- Literal — Inline text that is some literal value
- LiteralLayout — A block of text in which line breaks and white space are to be reproduced faithfully
- LoT — A list of the titles of formal objects (as tables or figures) in a document
- LoTentry — An entry in a list of titles
- ManVolNum — A reference volume number
- Markup — A string of formatting markup in text that is to be represented literally
- MediaLabel — A name that identifies the physical medium on which some information resides
- MediaObject — A displayed media object (video, audio, image, etc.)
- MediaObjectCO — A media object that contains callouts
- Member — An element of a simple list
- MenuChoice — A selection or series of selections from a menu
- ModeSpec — Application-specific information necessary for the completion of an OLink
- MouseButton — The conventional name of a mouse button
- Msg — A message in a message set
- MsgAud — The audience to which a message in a message set is relevant
- MsgEntry — A wrapper for an entry in a message set
- MsgExplan — Explanatory material relating to a message in a message set
- MsgInfo — Information about a message in a message set
- MsgLevel — The level of importance or severity of a message in a message set
- MsgMain — The primary component of a message in a message set
- MsgOrig — The origin of a message in a message set
- MsgRel — A related component of a message in a message set
- MsgSet — A detailed set of messages, usually error messages
- MsgSub — A subcomponent of a message in a message set
- MsgText — The actual text of a message component in a message set
- Note — A message set off from the text
- ObjectInfo — Meta-information for an object
- OLink — A link that addresses its target indirectly, through an entity
- Option — An option for a software command
- Optional — Optional information
- OrderedList — A list in which each entry is marked with a sequentially incremented label
- OrgDiv — A division of an organization
- OrgName — The name of an organization other than a corporation
- OtherAddr — Uncategorized information in address
- OtherCredit — A person or entity, other than an author or editor, credited in a document
- OtherName — A component of a persons name that is not a first name, surname, or lineage
- PageNums — The numbers of the pages in a book, for use in a bibliographic entry
- Para — A paragraph
- ParamDef — Information about a function parameter in a programming language
- Parameter — A value or a symbolic reference to a value
- Part — A division in a book
- PartIntro — An introduction to the contents of a part
- Phone — A telephone number
- Phrase — A span of text
- POB — A post office box in an address
- Postcode — A postal code in an address
- Preface — Introductory matter preceding the first chapter of a book
- Primary — The primary word or phrase under which an index term should be sorted
- PrimaryIE — A primary term in an index entry, not in the text
- PrintHistory — The printing history of a document
- Procedure — A list of operations to be performed in a well-defined sequence
- ProductName — The formal name of a product
- ProductNumber — A number assigned to a product
- ProgramListing — A literal listing of all or part of a program
- ProgramListingCO — A program listing with associated areas used in callouts
- Prompt — A character or string indicating the start of an input field in a computer display
- Property — A unit of data associated with some part of a computer system
- PubDate — The date of publication of a document
- Publisher — The publisher of a document
- PublisherName — The name of the publisher of a document
- PubsNumber — A number assigned to a publication other than an ISBN or ISSN or inventory part number
- QandADiv — A titled division in a QandASet
- QandAEntry — A question/answer set within a QandASet
- QandASet — A question-and-answer set
- Question — A question in a QandASet
- Quote — An inline quotation
- RefClass — The scope or other indication of applicability of a reference entry
- RefDescriptor — A description of the topic of a reference page
- RefEntry — A reference page (originally a UNIX man-style reference page)
- RefEntryTitle — The title of a reference page
- Reference — A collection of reference entries
- RefMeta — Meta-information for a reference entry
- RefMiscInfo — Meta-information for a reference entry other than the title and volume number
- RefName — The name of (one of) the subject(s) of a reference page
- RefNameDiv — The name, purpose, and classification of a reference page
- RefPurpose — A short (one sentence) synopsis of the topic of a reference page
- RefSect1 — A major subsection of a reference entry
- RefSect1Info — Meta-information for a RefSect1
- RefSect2 — A subsection of a RefSect1
- RefSect2Info — Meta-information for a RefSect2
- RefSect3 — A subsection of a RefSect2
- RefSect3Info — Meta-information for a RefSect3
- RefSynopsisDiv — A syntactic synopsis of the subject of the reference page
- RefSynopsisDivInfo — Meta-information for a RefSynopsisDiv
- ReleaseInfo — Information about a particular release of a document
- Replaceable — Content that may or must be replaced by the user
- ReturnValue — The value returned by a function
- RevHistory — A history of the revisions to a document
- Revision — An entry describing a single revision in the history of the revisions to a document
- RevNumber — A document revision number
- RevRemark — A description of a revision to a document
- row — A row in a table
- SBR — An explicit line break in a command synopsis
- Screen — Text that a user sees or might see on a computer screen
- ScreenCO — A screen with associated areas used in callouts
- ScreenInfo — Information about how a screen shot was produced
- ScreenShot — A representation of what the user sees or might see on a computer screen
- Secondary — A secondary word or phrase in an index term
- SecondaryIE — A secondary term in an index entry, rather than in the text
- Sect1 — A top-level section of document
- Sect1Info — Meta-information for a Sect1
- Sect2 — A subsection within a Sect1
- Sect2Info — Meta-information for a Sect2
- Sect3 — A subsection within a Sect2
- Sect3Info — Meta-information for a Sect3
- Sect4 — A subsection within a Sect3
- Sect4Info — Meta-information for a Sect4
- Sect5 — A subsection within a Sect4
- Sect5Info — Meta-information for a Sect5
- Section — A recursive section
- SectionInfo — Meta-information for a recursive section
- See — Part of an index term directing the reader instead to another entry in the index
- SeeAlso — Part of an index term directing the reader also to another entry in the index
- SeeAlsoIE — A "See also" entry in an index, rather than in the text
- SeeIE — A "See" entry in an index, rather than in the text
- Seg — An element of a list item in a segmented list
- SegListItem — A list item in a segmented list
- SegmentedList — A segmented list, a list of sets of elements
- SegTitle — The title of an element of a list item in a segmented list
- SeriesInfo — Information about the publication series of which a book is a part
- SeriesVolNums — Numbers of the volumes in a series of books
- Set — A collection of books
- SetIndex — An index to a set of books
- SetInfo — Meta-information for a Set
- SGMLTag — A component of SGML markup
- ShortAffil — A brief description of an affiliation
- Shortcut — A key combination for an action that is also accessible through a menu
- Sidebar — A portion of a document that is isolated from the main narrative flow
- SimPara — A paragraph that contains only text and inline markup, no block elements
- SimpleList — An undecorated list of single words or short phrases
- SimpleSect — A section of a document with no subdivisions
- spanspec — Formatting information for a spanned column in a table
- State — A state or province in an address
- Step — A unit of action in a procedure
- Street — A street address in an address
- StructField — A field in a structure (in the programming language sense)
- StructName — The name of a structure (in the programming language sense)
- Subject — One of a group of terms describing the subject matter of a document
- SubjectSet — A set of terms describing the subject matter of a document
- SubjectTerm — A term in a group of terms describing the subject matter of a document
- Subscript — A subscript (as in H2O, the molecular formula for water)
- SubSteps — A wrapper for steps that occur within steps in a procedure
- Subtitle — The subtitle of a document
- Superscript — A superscript (as in x2, the mathematical notation for x multiplied by itself)
- Surname — A family name; in western cultures the "last name"
- Symbol — A name that is replaced by a value before processing
- SynopFragment — A portion of a CmdSynopsis broken out from the main body of the synopsis
- SynopFragmentRef — A reference to a fragment of a command synopsis
- Synopsis — A general-purpose element for representing the syntax of commands or functions
- SystemItem — A system-related item or term
- Table — A formal table in a document
- tbody — A wrapper for the rows of a table or informal table
- Term — The word or phrase being defined or described in a variable list
- Tertiary — A tertiary word or phrase in an index term
- TertiaryIE — A tertiary term in an index entry, rather than in the text
- TextObject — A wrapper for a text description of an object and its associated meta-information
- tfoot — A table footer consisting of one or more rows
- tgroup — A wrapper for the main content of a table, or part of a table
- thead — A table header consisting of one or more rows
- Tip — A suggestion to the user, set off from the text
- Title — The text of the title of a section of a document or of a formal block-level element
- TitleAbbrev — The abbreviation of a Title
- ToC — A table of contents
- ToCback — An entry in a table of contents for a back matter component
- ToCchap — An entry in a table of contents for a component in the body of a document
- ToCentry — A component title in a table of contents
- ToCfront — An entry in a table of contents for a front matter component
- ToClevel1 — A top-level entry within a table of contents entry for a chapter-like component
- ToClevel2 — A second-level entry within a table of contents entry for a chapter-like component
- ToClevel3 — A third-level entry within a table of contents entry for a chapter-like component
- ToClevel4 — A fourth-level entry within a table of contents entry for a chapter-like component
- ToClevel5 — A fifth-level entry within a table of contents entry for a chapter-like component
- ToCpart — An entry in a table of contents for a part of a book
- Token — A unit of information
- Trademark — A trademark
- Type — The classification of a value
- ULink — A link that addresses its target by means of a URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
- UserInput — Data entered by the user
- VarArgs — An empty element in a function synopsis indicating a variable number of arguments
- VariableList — A list in which each entry is composed of a set of one or more terms and an associated description
- VarListEntry — A wrapper for a set of terms and the associated description in a variable list
- VarName — The name of a variable
- VideoData — Pointer to external video data
- VideoObject — A wrapper for video data and its associated meta-information
- Void — An empty element in a function synopsis indicating that the function in question takes no arguments
- VolumeNum — The volume number of a document in a set (as of books in a set or articles in a journal)
- Warning — An admonition set off from the text
- WordAsWord — A word meant specifically as a word and not representing anything else
- XRef — A cross reference to another part of the document
- Year — The year of publication of a document