About map templates

Map templates provide the starting structure for the various types of maps that CCMS users create. This starting structure makes it much easier for inexperienced DITA users to get started and also ensures uniformity among maps of a similar type

There are a few requirements for map templates:

The templates must be valid DITA.
Each map template must correspond to one of the default DITA map types or to a map type that you have specialized.
The default DITA map types are: map, bookmap, and subjectScheme.
There are no restrictions on the filenames of map templates.
You might have several templates based on a map type. For example, you might use basic maps for both chapter maps and standalone quick reference guides. While both templates are based on the map type, one can be named chaptermap.ditamap and the other quickrefguide.ditamap.
Each map template's DOCTYPE declaration must specify the map type. The public id in the DOCTYPE must correspond to the public id specified for the map DTD in your custom DTD plugin. The system id must be the name of the DTD that maps created with this template validate against. For example:
```
<!DOCTYPE map PUBLIC "-//ACME//DTD DITA Map for Release Management//EN" "AcmeMap-drm.dtd">
```
where <!DOCTYPE map PUBLIC " is the public id and AcmeMap-drm.dtd is the system id.
Note:
You can usually find this information in the system/conf/systemid.xml configuration file.
```
<id mapdefault="-//IXIA//DTD DITA Map for Release Management//EN" topicdefault="-//IXIA//DTD IXIA DITA Composite//EN">
    <reference public="-//ACME//DTD DITA Composite//EN" system="AcmeDitabase.dtd"/>
    <reference public="-//ACME//DTD DITA Map for Release Management//EN" system="AcmeMap-drm.dtd"/>
</id>
```
It is not advisable to "hard-code" references to specific objects into a map template.
Map templates are static, while content is dynamic. It can be easy to deprecate a topic in the CCMS in favor of an updated instance and forget to update map templates to reference the new topic. In DRM, a map template can be used to create a new map in any branch of the CCMS, where you cannot guarantee the availability of the object referenced.