dl
elementdt
elements followed by one or more dd
elements.interface HTMLDListElement : HTMLElement {};
The dl
element represents an
association list consisting of zero or more name-value groups (a
description list). Each group must consist of one or more names
(dt
elements) followed by one or more values
(dd
elements). Within a single dl
element,
there should not be more than one dt
element for each
name.
Name-value groups may be terms and definitions, metadata topics and values, questions and answers, or any other groups of name-value data.
The values within a group are alternatives; multiple paragraphs
forming part of the same value must all be given within the same
dd
element.
The order of the list of groups, and of the names and values within each group, may be significant.
If a dl
element is empty, it contains no groups.
If a dl
element has one or more non-whitespace Text
node children, or has child elements that are neither
dt
nor dd
elements, all such
Text
nodes and elements, as well as their descendants
(including any dt
or dd
elements), do not
form part of any groups in that dl
.
If a dl
element has one or more dt
element children but no dd
element children, then it
consists of one group with names but no values.
If a dl
element has one or more dd
element children but no dt
element children, then it
consists of one group with values but no names.
If a dl
element's first dt
or
dd
element child is a dd
element, then the
first group has no associated name.
If a dl
element's last dt
or
dd
element child is a dt
element, then the
last group has no associated value.
When a dl
element doesn't match its
content model, it is often due to accidentally using dd
elements in the place of dt
elements and vice
versa. Conformance checkers can spot such mistakes and might be able
to advise authors how to correctly use the markup.
In the following example, one entry ("Authors") is linked to two values ("John" and "Luke").
<dl> <dt> Authors <dd> John <dd> Luke <dt> Editor <dd> Frank </dl>
In the following example, one definition is linked to two terms.
<dl> <dt lang="en-US"> <dfn>color</dfn> </dt> <dt lang="en-GB"> <dfn>colour</dfn> </dt> <dd> A sensation which (in humans) derives from the ability of the fine structure of the eye to distinguish three differently filtered analyses of a view. </dd> </dl>
The following example illustrates the use of the dl
element to mark up metadata of sorts. At the end of the example,
one group has two metadata labels ("Authors" and "Editors") and two
values ("Robert Rothman" and "Daniel Jackson").
<dl> <dt> Last modified time </dt> <dd> 2004-12-23T23:33Z </dd> <dt> Recommended update interval </dt> <dd> 60s </dd> <dt> Authors </dt> <dt> Editors </dt> <dd> Robert Rothman </dd> <dd> Daniel Jackson </dd> </dl>
The following example shows the dl
element used to
give a set of instructions. The order of the instructions here is
important (in the other examples, the order of the blocks was not
important).
<p>Determine the victory points as follows (use the first matching case):</p> <dl> <dt> If you have exactly five gold coins </dt> <dd> You get five victory points </dd> <dt> If you have one or more gold coins, and you have one or more silver coins </dt> <dd> You get two victory points </dd> <dt> If you have one or more silver coins </dt> <dd> You get one victory point </dd> <dt> Otherwise </dt> <dd> You get no victory points </dd> </dl>
The following snippet shows a dl
element being used
as a glossary. Note the use of dfn
to indicate the
word being defined.
<dl> <dt><dfn>Apartment</dfn>, n.</dt> <dd>An execution context grouping one or more threads with one or more COM objects.</dd> <dt><dfn>Flat</dfn>, n.</dt> <dd>A deflated tire.</dd> <dt><dfn>Home</dfn>, n.</dt> <dd>The user's login directory.</dd> </dl>
The dl
element is inappropriate for
marking up dialogue. Examples of how to
mark up dialogue are shown below.