Nesting tags

It is often necessary to code certain tags (and their text) within the definition of other tags (between the start and end tags). This is called nesting.

A good example of nesting is the relationship between the DL (definition list) tag, the DT (definition term) tag, and the DD (definition description) tag. The DL tag specifies a definition list and the DT and DD tags specify the terms and descriptions of the items within the definition list. Consequently, the DT and DD tags must be nested within a DL tag and its matching end tag if the list is to format properly.

Here is an example:

<dl>
  <dt>This is a definition term.
  <dd>This is a definition description.
  <dt>Another term.
  <dd>Another description.
</dl>

Note: Although it isn't required, we indented the nested tags in this example to illustrate nesting levels. You can also do this in your own source files.

There are several tags that must be nested within the actual text of another start tag. These tags serve to identify a condition for the text. In this example, the nested CMD tag follows the CMDTBL start tag and precedes the CMDTBL end tag. The T (truncation) tag nested within the text of the CMD tag provides truncation of the command text.

<CMDTBL APPLID=conv>
  <CMD NAME=delete>Del<T>ete
    <CMDACT ACTION=setverb>
</CMDTBL>

Nesting tags can take on many different forms and can be complex. For example, some tags allow multiple tags or multiple occurrences of the same tag to be nested, while other tags do not allow nesting of any tags. You can also nest levels of certain tags, that is, nested tags within other nested tags. Additionally, in many instances, you must nest certain tags within other tags. The tag descriptions in Tag reference describe the allowed and required conditions for nesting each of the DTL tags.