W3C
XHTML(TM) Basic
W3C Working Draft 10 February 2000
This version:
http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/WD-xhtml-basic-20000210
(Plain text version, PostScript version, PDF version, ZIP
archive, or Gzip'd TAR archive)
Latest version:
http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml-basic
Previous version:
http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WD-xhtml-basic-19991221
Editors:
Masayasu Ishikawa, W3C
Shinichi Matsui, Panasonic
Peter Stark, Phone.com
Toshihiko Yamakami, Access Co., Ltd.
Copyright (c) 1999-2000 W3C(R) (MIT, INRIA, Keio), All Rights
Reserved. W3C liability, trademark, document use and software
licensing rules apply.
Abstract
The XHTML Basic document type is a subset of XHTML 1.1 [XHTML11]. It
includes the minimal set of modules required to be an XHTML Family
document type, and in addition it includes images, forms, and basic
tables. It is designed for Web clients that do not support the full
set of XHTML features; for example, Web clients such as mobile phones,
PDAs, pagers, and settop boxes. The document type is rich enough for
content authoring.
The document type definition is implemented using XHTML modules as
defined in "Modularization of XHTML" [XHTMLMOD].
Status of This Document
This section describes the status of this document at the time of its
publication. Other documents may supersede this document. The latest
status of this document series is maintained at the W3C.
This document is the "Last Call Working Draft" of "XHTML Basic". The
Last Call review period ends at 2359Z on 15 March 2000. Please send
review comments before the review period ends to
www-html-editor@w3.org.
Public discussion of HTML takes place on www-html@w3.org (archived).
To subscribe send an email to with the word
subscribe in the subject line.
This document has been produced as part of the W3C HTML Activity, and
it has been prepared by the Mobile Subgroup of the W3C HTML Working
Group (members only) based on input from the WAP Forum Application's
group and members of the W3C Mobile Access Interest Group (members
only). This document will be used by the Mobile Subgroup of the W3C
HTML Working Group and the W3C Mobile Access Interest Group to find a
common ground for future markup languages aimed at content for small
information appliances.
This is work in progress, and does not imply endorsement by, nor the
consensus of, either W3C membership, WAP Forum membership, or members
of the HTML Working Group or the Mobile Access Interest Group. This is
a draft document and may be updated, replaced or obsoleted by other
documents at any time. It is inappropriate to cite this document as
other than "work in progress". A list of current W3C Recommendations
and other technical documents can be found at http://www.w3.org/TR.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
1.1. XHTML for Small Information Appliances
1.2. Background and Requirements
1.3. Design Rationale
2. Conformance
2.1. Document Conformance
2.2. User Agent Conformance
3. The XHTML Basic Document Type
4. How to Use XHTML Basic
5. Acknowledgements
A. References
A.1. Normative References
A.2. Informative References
B. XHTML Basic Document Type Definition
B.1. SGML Open Catalog Entry for XHTML Basic
B.2. XHTML Basic Driver
B.3. XHTML Basic Customizations
1. Introduction
1.1. XHTML for Small Information Appliances
HTML 4 was designed for large devices, overlapping windows/frames
menus, mouse input pointing device, high powered CPU, large power
supply. Requiring a full fledge computer for access to the World Wide
Web excludes a large portion of the population from consumer device
access of online information and services.
Because there are many ways to subset HTML, there are many almost
identical subsets defined by organizations and companies. Without a
common base set of features, developing applications for a wide range
of Web clients is difficult. Transformation between XHTML based
languages is easier if they share a common set of elements. The goal
of XHTML Basic is to converge various HTML subset into one common
subset of XHTML.
The document type definition for XHTML Basic is implemented based on
the XHTML modules defined in Modularized XHTML [XHTMLMOD].
1.2. Background and Requirements
Information appliances are targeted for particular uses. They support
the features they need for the functions they are designed to fulfill.
The following are examples of different information appliances:
* Mobile phones
* Televisions
* PDAs
* Vending machines
* Pagers
* Car navigation systems
* Mobile game machines
* Digital book readers
* Smart watches
Existing subsets and variants of HTML for these clients include
"Compact HTML" [CHTML], the Wireless Markup Language [WML], and the
"HTML 4.0 Guidelines for Mobile Access" [GUIDELINES]. The common
features found in these document types include:
* Basic text (including headings, paragraphs, and lists)
* Hyperlinks and links to related documents
* Basic forms
* Basic tables
* Images
* Meta information
This set of HTML features has been the starting point for the design
of XHTML Basic. The fact that most content developers are familiar
with HTML makes it appropriate as a host language, that include markup
modules from other languages using the methods described in "Building
XHTML Modules" [XHTMLMOD]. For example, XHTML Basic may be extended
with an Event Module that is more generic than the traditional HTML 4
event system.
It is not the intention of XHTML Basic to limit the functionality of
future languages. But since the features in HTML 4 (frames, advanced
tables, fixed set of attribute event handlers, and objects) were
developed for a desktop computer type of client, they have proved to
be inappropriate for many non-desktop devices. We believe XHTML Basic
will be extended and built upon. Extending XHTML from a common and
basic set of features, instead of many almost identical subsets or the
too large set of functions in HTML 4, we think is good for
interoperability on the Web, as well as scalability. Compared to the
rich functionality of HTML 4, XHTML Basic may look like one step back,
but in fact, it is two steps forward for clients that do not need what
is in HTML 4 and for content developers that get one XHTML subset
instead of many.
1.3. Design Rationale
This section explains why certain HTML features are not part of XHTML
Basic.
1.3.1. Style Sheets
The style element is not supported. External Style sheets are
recommended. The link element can be used to include external style
sheets. The div and span elements and the class attribute are
supported to hook style information onto the structure. Separation
between structure and presentation allows user agents to download the
style sheets if they support style sheets; user agents that do not
support style sheets can ignore the external stylesheet. The media
attribute can be used to select the appropriate stylesheets. See the
section on "Media types" in the HTML 4.01 specification ([HTML4],
section 14.2.4) for more details.
1.3.2. Script and Events
The script and noscript elements are not supported. Usually small
devices have limited memory and CPU power. Execution of script
programs may not be supported. Contents should be readable even if
scripts are not executed.
Event handler attributes used to invoke script programs are not
supported. Events are device dependent. An incoming-call event is
unlikely to happen in a television. A generic event handling mehanism
would be more appropriate than hardwiring the event names in the
document type definition.
1.3.3. Presentation
Many simple Web clients cannot display fonts other than monospace.
Bi-directional text, bold faced font, and other text extension
elements are not supported. However, phrasal elements such as
emphasize, em, and headers are supported.
It is recommended that style sheets are used to create a presentation
that is appropriate for the device.
1.3.4. Forms
Basic XHTML forms ([XHTMLMOD], section 4.5.1) are supported. Since
only devices with a local file system can take advantage of file and
image input types in forms, they are not included in the basic forms.
Also, content developers should keep in mind that users may not be
able to input many characters from some devices (e.g a mobile phone).
1.3.5. Tables
Basic XHTML tables ([XHTMLMOD], section 4.6.1) are supported, but
tables can be difficult to display on small devices. Content
developers are recommended to follow the accessability guidelines for
tables ([WAI-WEBCONTENT], Guideline 5). Note that in Basic Tables
Module, nesting of tables is prohibited.
1.3.6. Frames
Frames are not supported. Frames depend on screen interface and are
not part of XHTML 1.1.
1.3.7. Objects
Images are supported using the img element. The object and param
elements are not supported. Limited input capabilities, for example no
pointing device, has excluded image-maps.
2. Conformance
This section is normative.
2.1. Document Conformance
A Conforming XHTML Basic document is a document that requires only the
facilities described as mandatory in this specification. Such a
document must meet all of the following criteria:
1. It must validate against the DTD found in Appendix B.
2. The root element of the document must be .
3. The name of the default namespace on the root element must be the
XHTML namespace name, http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml.
4. There must be a DOCTYPE declaration in the document prior to the
root element. If present, the public identifier included in the
DOCTYPE declaration must reference the DTD found in Appendix B
using its Formal Public Identifier. The system identifier may be
modified appropriately.
2.2. User Agent Conformance
The user agent must conform to the "User Agent Conformance" section of
the XHTML specification ([XHTML1], section 3.2).
3. The XHTML Basic Document Type
This section is normative.
The XHTML Basic document type is defined as a set of XHTML modules.
All XHTML modules are defined in the "Modularization of XHTML"
specification [XHTMLMOD].
XHTML Basic consists of the following XHTML modules:
Structure Module*
body, head, html, title
Text Module*
abbr, acronym, address, blockquote, br, cite, code, dfn, div,
em, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, kbd, p, pre, q, samp, span, strong,
var
Hypertext Module*
a
List Module*
dl, dt, dd, ol, ul, li
Basic Forms Module
form, input, label, select, option, textarea
Basic Tables Module
caption, table, td, th, tr
Image Module
img
Meta Information Module
meta
Link Module
link
Base Module
base
(*) = This module is a required XHTML Family module.
An XML 1.0 DTD is available in Appendix B.
NOTE: Since the HTML event handler attributes are not included in
XHTML Basic, form controls outside forms may not function as expected
by the user.
4. How to Use XHTML Basic
Although XHTML Basic can be used as it is, - a simple XHTML language
with text, links, and images -, the intention with its simple design
is to use it as a host language. A host language can contain a mix of
vocabularies all rolled into one document type. It is natural that
XHTML is the host language, since that is what most Web developers are
used to.
When markup from other languages is added to XHTML Basic, the
resulting document type will be an extension of XHTML Basic. Content
developers can develop for the XHTML Basic or take advantage of the
extensions. The point is that XHTML Basic always is the common
language that user agents supports. See "Building XHTML Modules"
[BUILDING] for information about how to define markup language modules
that are compatible with the modularization framework used by XHTML.
5. Acknowledgements
Thanks to Gary Adams (Sun), Johan Hjelm (W3C/Ericsson), Wayne Carr
(Intel) and the W3C HTML Working Group for contributing, reviewing and
commenting on this document.
A. References
A.1. Normative References
[BUILDING]
"Building XHTML Modules", W3C Working Draft, M. Altheim, S.
McCarron, eds., 5 January 2000. Available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/WD-xhtml-building-20000105
The latest version is available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml-building
[HTML4]
"HTML 4.01 Specification", W3C Recommendation, D. Raggett, A.
Le Hors, I. Jacobs, eds., 24 December 1999. Available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-html401-19991224
The latest version is available at: http://www.w3.org/TR/html4
[XHTML1]
"XHTML 1.0: The Extensible HyperText Markup Language - A
Reformulation of HTML 4 in XML 1.0", W3C Recommendation, Steven
Pemberton et al., 26 January 2000. Available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/REC-xhtml1-20000126
The latest version is available at: http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1
[XHTML11]
"XHTML 1.1 - Module-based XHTML", W3C Working Draft, M.
Altheim, S. McCarron, eds., 5 January 2000. Available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/WD-xhtml11-20000105
The latest version is available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11
[XHTMLMOD]
"Modularization of XHTML", W3C Working Draft, M. Altheim et
al., eds., 5 January 2000. Available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/WD-xhtml-modularization-20000105
The latest version is available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml-modularization
[XML]
"Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0", W3C Recommendation, T.
Bray, J. Paoli, C. M. Sperberg-McQueen, eds., 10 February 1998.
Available at: http://www.w3.org/TR/1998/REC-xml-19980210
The latest version is available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-xml
A.2. Informative References
[CHTML]
"Compact HTML for Small Information Appliances", W3C Note, T.
Kamada, 9 February 1998. Available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/1998/NOTE-compactHTML-19980209
[GUIDELINES]
"HTML 4.0 Guidelines for Mobile Access, W3C Note, T. Kamada, T.
Asada, M. Ishikawa, S. Matsui, eds., 15 March 1999. Available
at: http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/NOTE-html40-mobile-19990315
The latest version is available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-html40-mobile
[WAI-WEBCONTENT]
"Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0", W3C Recommendation,
W. Chisholm, G. Vanderheiden, I. Jacobs, eds., 5 May 1999.
Available at: http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WAI-WEBCONTENT-19990505
The latest version is available at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT
[WML]
"Wireless Markup Language Specification", WAP Forum Ltd.
Available from http://www.wapforum.org/what/technical.htm
B. XHTML Basic Document Type Definition
This appendix is normative.
B.1. SGML Open Catalog Entry for XHTML Basic
This section contains the SGML Open Catalog-format definition of the
XHTML Basic FPI.
-- .......................................................................... --
-- File catalog ............................................................ --
-- XHTML Basic Catalog Data File
Revision: $Id: xhtml-basic10.cat,v 2.2 2000/02/09 21:33:57 altheim Exp $ SMI
See "Entity Management", SGML Open Technical Resolution 9401 for detailed
information on supplying and using catalog data. This document is available
from OASIS at URL:
--
-- .......................................................................... --
-- SGML declaration associated with XHTML .................................. --
OVERRIDE YES
SGMLDECL "xml1.dcl"
-- for use with non-Unicode compatible parsers: --
-- SGMLDECL "xml1n.dcl" --
-- :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: --
-- XHTML Basic DTD modular driver file ..................................... --
PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML Basic 1.0//EN" "xhtml-basic10.dtd"
-- XHTML Basic framework module ............................................. --
PUBLIC "-//W3C//ENTITIES XHTML Basic 1.0 Document Model 1.0//EN" "xhtml-basic10-model-1.mod"
-- End of catalog data ..................................................... --
-- .......................................................................... --
B.2. XHTML Basic Driver
This section contains the driver for the XHTML Basic document type
implementation as an XML DTD. It relies upon XHTML module
implementations defined in [XHTMLMOD].
%xhtml-framework.mod;
%xhtml-text.mod;
%xhtml-hypertext.mod;
%xhtml-list.mod;
%xhtml-image.mod;]]>
%xhtml-table.mod;]]>
%xhtml-form.mod;]]>
%xhtml-link.mod;]]>
%xhtml-meta.mod;]]>
%xhtml-base.mod;]]>
%xhtml-struct.mod;
B.3. XHTML Basic Customizations
An XHTML Family Document Type (such as XHTML Basic) must define the
content model that it uses. This is done through a separate content
model module that is instantiated by the XHTML Modular Framework. The
content model module and the XHTML Basic Driver (above) work together
to customize the module implementations to the document type's
specific requirements. The content model module for XHTML Basic is
defined below: