dictRef[att.dictRef]

A string referencing a dictionary, units, convention or other metadata.

The namespace is optional but recommended where possible

Note: this convention is only used within STMML and related languages; it is NOT a generic URI.

example

<list>
<!-- dictRef is of namespaceRefType -->
  <scalar dictRef="chem:mpt">123</scalar>  
<!-- error -->
  <scalar dictRef="mpt23">123</scalar>  
</list>

[xsd:string]

Pattern: [A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9_]*(:[A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9_]*)?

A reference to a dictionary entry.

Elements in data instances such as scalar may have a dictRef attribute to point to an entry in a dictionary. To avoid excessive use of (mutable) filenames and URIs we recommend a namespace prefix, mapped to a namespace URI in the normal manner. In this case, of course, the namespace URI must point to a real XML document containing entry elements and validated against STMML Schema.

Where there is concern about the dictionary becoming separated from the document the dictionary entries can be physically included as part of the data instance and the normal XPointer addressing mechanism can be used.

This attribute can also be used on dictionary elements to define the namespace prefix

example

<scalar dataType="xsd:float" title="surfaceArea" 
  dictRef="cmlPhys:surfArea" 
  xmlns:cmlPhys="http://www.xml-cml.org/dict/physical"
  units="units:cm2">50</scalar>

example

<stm:list xmlns:stm="http://www.xml-cml.org/schema/stmml">
  <stm:observation>
    <p>We observed <object count="3" dictRef="#p1"/> 
      constructing dwellings of different material</p>
  </stm:observation>
  <stm:entry id="p1" term="pig">
    <stm:definition>A domesticated animal.</stm:definition>
    <stm:description>Predators include wolves</stm:description>
    <stm:description class="scientificName">Sus scrofa</stm:description>
  </stm:entry>
</stm:list>