Elements: Core Structure

An element is a named group of elements and fields, reusable across templates. In YAML it is written with type: element, its members listed under children:

type: element
name: Address
children:
- key: street
  type: text-field
  name: Street
- key: country
  type: element
  name: Country
  children:
  - key: country-name
    type: text-field
    name: Country Name

An element's children may hold elements and fields. Because an element can itself hold elements, this allows nesting to any depth. An element may stand as its own definition or sit inside a template or another element.

Instance Type

An element may declare an instanceType, the RDF type asserted on instances of the element. This is what lets an instance be read as Linked Data; see Mapping to RDF.

Key	Value	Presence	Meaning
instanceType	IRI	optional	The type asserted on instances of this element.

Element Configuration

Inside a parent, an element carries a configuration block. Its settings depend on where the element sits, not on the element itself. They fall into a few groups.

Repetition

A repeating element stands for a list of occurrences. multiple marks it as repeating, and minItems and maxItems bound how many times it may occur.

Key	Value	Meaning
multiple	boolean	The element may occur more than once.
minItems	integer	Minimum number of occurrences.
maxItems	integer	Maximum number of occurrences.

Property Binding

propertyIri sets the property the element maps to when its contents appear in an instance. It is the predicate the element takes in the RDF reading of an instance; see Mapping to RDF.

Key	Value	Meaning
propertyIri	IRI	The property the element binds to in an instance.

Presentation

overrideLabel and overrideDescription replace the element's own name and description for this placement, without changing the element itself.

Key	Value	Meaning
overrideLabel	string	A display label for this element in this parent, replacing its name.
overrideDescription	string	A display description for this element in this parent.

- key: address
  type: element
  name: Address
  configuration:
    multiple: true
    minItems: 0
    maxItems: 4
    overrideLabel: Postal Address
    overrideDescription: The mailing address for this site
  children:
  - key: street
    type: text-field
    name: Street