SubItems

Subitems are items that exist within the scope of a larger item, forming a hierarchical structure where the subitem provides detail, components, or subdivisions of its parent. The concept describes a relationship in which a parent item can have one or more subitems, and those subitems may themselves have their own subitems, creating a tree-like arrangement.

In data structures and programming, subitems appear as elements of a composite object or as children of a node in a hierarchy. Nested data formats such as JSON or XML encode subitems as nested objects or arrays, and software often exposes subitems to convey related information without expanding the entire structure at once.

In user interfaces, subitems frequently refer to values associated with a single primary item across additional fields or columns. For example, a row in a multi-column list view has the main item plus subitems that populate the extra columns, such as priority, due date, or status. Subitems help present related data compactly while maintaining a clear parent–child relationship.

Subitems are also used in documents and outlines to represent subpoints or nested sections under a main entry. In task management, tasks can be subdivided into subtasks or subitems to break work into smaller, more manageable units.

Differences with related terms: subitems emphasize their role as components within a parent item, whereas “child” is a broader term often used in trees and graphs. Subitems are a practical way to model nested data, nested lists, or hierarchical views across software, databases, and documents.