1 Motivation and Summary
We envision applications of Extensible Markup Language (XML) where
a single XML document may
contain elements and attributes
(here referred to as a "markup vocabulary")
that are defined for and used by multiple software modules.
One motivation for this is modularity: if such a markup vocabulary exists
which is well-understood and for which there is useful software
available, it is better to re-use this markup rather than re-invent it.
Such documents, containing multiple markup vocabularies,
pose problems of recognition and collision. Software modules need to
be able to recognize the elements and attributes which they are designed
to process, even in the face
of "collisions" occurring when markup intended for some other software
package uses the same element name
or attribute name.
These considerations require that document constructs
should have names constructed so as to avoid clashes
between names from different markup vocabularies.
This specification describes a mechanism,
XML namespaces, which accomplishes this
by assigning expanded names
to elements and attributes.
1.1 A Note on Notation and Usage
Where EMPHASIZED, the key words
MUST,
MUST NOT,
REQUIRED,
SHOULD,
SHOULD NOT,
MAY
in this document are to be interpreted as described in
[Keywords].
Note that many of the
nonterminals in the productions in
this specification are defined not here but in
the XML specification [XML].
When nonterminals defined here have the same names as nonterminals
defined in the XML specification, the productions here
in all cases match a subset of the strings matched by the
corresponding ones there.
In this document's productions,
the NSC is a "Namespace Constraint",
one of the rules that documents conforming to this specification
MUST
follow.
2 XML Namespaces
2.1 Basic Concepts
[Definition:
An XML namespace is identified by
a URI reference [RFC3986];
element and attribute names
may be placed in an XML namespace using the mechanisms described
in this specification.
]
[Definition:
An expanded name
is a pair consisting of a
namespace name
and a
local name.
]
[Definition:
For a name N in a namespace identified
by
a URI
I, the
namespace name
is I. For a name N that is not in a namespace, the
namespace name
has no value.
]
[Definition:
In either case the
local name
is N.
]
It is this combination of the universally managed IRIURI namespace
with the vocabulary's local names that is effective in avoiding
name clashes.
URI
references can contain characters not allowed in names, and are often
inconveniently long, so expanded names are not used directly to name
elements and attributes in XML documents. Instead
qualified names
are used.
[Definition:
A
qualified name
is a name subject to namespace interpretation.
]
In documents conforming to this specification,
element and attribute names appear as qualified names.
Syntactically, they are either
prefixed names or
unprefixed names.
An attribute-based declaration syntax is provided to bind prefixes to
namespace names and to bind a default namespace that applies to
unprefixed element names;
these declarations are scoped by the elements on which they appear so that
different bindings may apply in different parts of a document.
Processors conforming to this specification
MUST
recognize and act on these declarations and prefixes.
2.2 Use of
URIs
as Namespace Names
The empty string, though it is a legal
URI
reference, cannot be used as a namespace name.
The use of relative
URI
references,
including same-document references, in namespace declarations is
deprecated.
Note:
This deprecation of relative URI references was decided on by a
W3C XML Plenary Ballot [Relative URI deprecation]. It also declares that
"later specifications such as DOM, XPath, etc. will define no
interpretation for them".
2.3 Comparing
URI
References
URI
references identifying namespaces are compared when determining
whether a name belongs to a given namespace, and whether two names
belong to the same namespace.
[Definition:
The two
URIs
are treated as strings, and they are
identical
if and only if the strings are identical, that is, if they
are the same sequence of characters.
]
The comparison is case-sensitive, and no %-escaping is done or undone.
A consequence of this is that
URI
references which are not identical
in this sense may resolve to the same resource. Examples include
URI
references which differ only in case or %-escaping, or which are
in external entities which have different base URIs (but note that
relative
URIs
are deprecated as namespace names).
In a namespace declaration, the
URI
reference is the
normalized value
of the attribute, so replacement of XML character and entity references
has already been done before any comparison.
Examples:
The
URI
references below are all different for the purposes of identifying
namespaces, since they differ in case:
http://www.example.org/wine
http://www.Example.org/wine
http://www.example.org/Wine
The IRIURI references below are also all different for the purposes of identifying
namespaces:
http://www.example.org/~wilbur
http://www.example.org/%7ewilbur
http://www.example.org/%7Ewilbur
Because of the risk of confusion between
URIs
that would be equivalent
if dereferenced, the use of %-escaped characters in namespace names is
strongly discouraged.
3 Declaring Namespaces
[Definition: A namespace
(or more precisely, a namespace binding)
is
declared using
a family of reserved attributes.
Such an attribute's name must either
be xmlns or begin xmlns:.
These attributes, like any other XML attributes, may be provided
directly or by default.
]
Attribute Names for Namespace Declaration
The attribute's
normalized value
MUST
be either
a URI
reference — the
namespace name
identifying the namespace —
or an empty string.
The namespace name, to serve its
intended purpose,
SHOULD
have the characteristics of uniqueness and
persistence.
It is not a goal that it be directly usable for retrieval of a schema (if
any exists).
Uniform Resource Names [RFC2141] is an example of a syntax that
is designed with these goals in mind.
However, it should be noted that ordinary URLs can be managed in such a way as
to achieve these same goals.
[Definition: If the
attribute name matches PrefixedAttName,
then the
NCName gives the namespace prefix,
used to associate element and attribute names with the
namespace name in the attribute value
in the scope of the element to which the declaration
is attached.
In such declarations, the namespace name may not be empty.
]
[Definition: If the
attribute name matches DefaultAttName,
then the
namespace name in the
attribute value is
that of the default namespace
in the scope of the element to which the declaration
is attached.]
Default namespaces and overriding of declarations are discussed in
6 Applying Namespaces to Elements and Attributes.
An example namespace declaration, which associates the
namespace prefix edi with the namespace name
http://ecommerce.example.org/schema:
<x xmlns:edi='http://ecommerce.example.org/schema'>
<!-- the "edi" prefix is bound to http://ecommerce.example.org/schema
for the "x" element and contents -->
</x>
Namespace constraint: Reserved Prefixes and Namespace Names
The prefix xml is by definition bound to the namespace name
http://www.w3.org/XML/1998/namespace. It
MAY,
but need not, be
declared, and
MUST NOT
be
bound to any other namespace name. Other prefixes
MUST NOT
be bound to this namespace
name,
and it
MUST NOT
be declared as the default namespace.
The prefix xmlns is used only to declare namespace bindings and is by
definition bound to the namespace name
http://www.w3.org/2000/xmlns/. It
MUST NOT
be declared
.
Other prefixes
MUST NOT
be bound to this namespace
name,
and it
MUST NOT
be declared as the default namespace.
Element names
MUST NOT
have the prefix
xmlns.
All other prefixes beginning with the three-letter sequence x, m, l,
in any case combination, are reserved. This means that:
Though they are not themselves reserved, it is inadvisable to use
prefixed names whose LocalPart begins with the letters x, m, l, in any
case combination, as
these names would be reserved if used without a prefix.
4 Qualified Names
In XML
documents conforming to this specification, some
names (constructs corresponding to the nonterminal
Name)
MUST
be given as
qualified names,
defined as follows:
Qualified Name
The
Prefix provides the
namespace prefix
part of the qualified name, and
MUST
be associated with a namespace
URI
reference in a
namespace declaration.
[Definition:
The LocalPart provides the
local part of the qualified name.]
Note that the prefix functions only as a placeholder for a
namespace name.
Applications
SHOULD
use the namespace name, not the prefix, in constructing
names whose scope extends beyond the
containing document.
5 Using Qualified Names
In XML documents conforming to this specification,
element names are given as
qualified names, as
follows:
Element Names
An example of a qualified name serving as an element name:
<!-- the 'price' element's namespace is http://ecommerce.example.org/schema -->
<edi:price xmlns:edi='http://ecommerce.example.org/schema' units='Euro'>32.18</edi:price>
Attributes are either namespace
declarations
or their names are given as
qualified names:
Attribute
An example of a qualified name serving as an attribute name:
<x xmlns:edi='http://ecommerce.example.org/schema'>
<!-- the 'taxClass' attribute's namespace is http://ecommerce.example.org/schema -->
<lineItem edi:taxClass="exempt">Baby food</lineItem>
</x>
Namespace constraint: Prefix Declared
The namespace prefix, unless it is xml
or xmlns,
MUST
have been
declared in a namespace declaration
attribute in either the start-tag of the element where the prefix
is used or in an ancestor element (i.e., an element in whose
content the
prefixed markup occurs).
This constraint may lead to operational difficulties in the case where
the namespace declaration attribute is provided, not directly in the XML
document entity, but
via a default attribute declared in an external entity.
Such declarations may not be read by software which is based on a
non-validating XML processor.
Many XML applications, presumably including namespace-sensitive ones, fail to
require validating processors.
If correct operation with such applications is required,
namespace declarations
MUST
be
provided either directly or via default attributes declared in the
internal subset of the DTD.
Element names and attribute names are also given as qualified names when
they appear in declarations in the
DTD:
Qualified Names in Declarations
Note that DTD-based validation is not namespace-aware in the following
sense: a DTD constrains the elements and attributes that may appear in
a document by their uninterpreted names, not by (namespace name, local
name) pairs. To validate a document that uses namespaces against a
DTD, the same prefixes must be used in the DTD as in the instance.
A DTD may however indirectly constrain the namespaces used in a valid
document by providing #FIXED values for attributes that
declare namespaces.
6 Applying Namespaces to Elements and Attributes
6.1 Namespace Scoping
The scope of a namespace declaration declaring a prefix extends from
the beginning of the start-tag in which it appears to the end of the
corresponding end-tag, excluding the scope of any inner declarations
with the same NSAttName part.
In the case of an empty tag, the scope is the tag itself.
Such a namespace declaration applies to all element and attribute
names within its scope whose prefix matches that specified in the
declaration.
The
expanded name
corresponding to a prefixed element or attribute name has the
URI
to which the
prefix
is bound as its
namespace name,
and the
local part
as its
local name.
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<html:html xmlns:html='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>
<html:head><html:title>Frobnostication</html:title></html:head>
<html:body><html:p>Moved to
<html:a href='http://frob.example.com'>here.</html:a></html:p></html:body>
</html:html>Multiple namespace prefixes can be declared as attributes of a single element,
as shown in this example:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!-- both namespace prefixes are available throughout -->
<bk:book xmlns:bk='urn:loc.gov:books'
xmlns:isbn='urn:ISBN:0-395-36341-6'>
<bk:title>Cheaper by the Dozen</bk:title>
<isbn:number>1568491379</isbn:number>
</bk:book>
6.2 Namespace Defaulting
The scope of a
default namespace declaration
extends from the beginning of the
start-tag in which it appears to the end of the corresponding end-tag,
excluding the scope of any inner default namespace declarations.
In the case of an empty tag, the scope is the tag itself.
A default namespace declaration applies to all unprefixed element names
within its scope.
Default namespace declarations do not apply directly to attribute names;
the interpretation of unprefixed attributes is
determined by the element on which they appear.
If there is a default namespace declaration in scope, the
expanded name
corresponding to an unprefixed element name has the
URI
of the
default namespace
as its
namespace name.
If there is no default namespace declaration in scope, the
namespace name has no value.
The namespace name for an unprefixed attribute name always has no value.
In all cases, the
local name is
local part
(which is of course the same as the unprefixed name itself).
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!-- elements are in the HTML namespace, in this case by default -->
<html xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>
<head><title>Frobnostication</title></head>
<body><p>Moved to
<a href='http://frob.example.com'>here</a>.</p></body>
</html><?xml version="1.0"?>
<!-- unprefixed element types are from "books" -->
<book xmlns='urn:loc.gov:books'
xmlns:isbn='urn:ISBN:0-395-36341-6'>
<title>Cheaper by the Dozen</title>
<isbn:number>1568491379</isbn:number>
</book>A larger example of namespace scoping:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!-- initially, the default namespace is "books" -->
<book xmlns='urn:loc.gov:books'
xmlns:isbn='urn:ISBN:0-395-36341-6'>
<title>Cheaper by the Dozen</title>
<isbn:number>1568491379</isbn:number>
<notes>
<!-- make HTML the default namespace for some commentary -->
<p xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>
This is a <i>funny</i> book!
</p>
</notes>
</book>The attribute value in a default namespace declaration
MAY
be empty.
This has the same
effect, within the scope of the declaration, of there being no default
namespace.
<?xml version='1.0'?>
<Beers>
<!-- the default namespace inside tables is that of HTML -->
<table xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>
<th><td>Name</td><td>Origin</td><td>Description</td></th>
<tr>
<!-- no default namespace inside table cells -->
<td><brandName xmlns="">Huntsman</brandName></td>
<td><origin xmlns="">Bath, UK</origin></td>
<td>
<details xmlns=""><class>Bitter</class><hop>Fuggles</hop>
<pro>Wonderful hop, light alcohol, good summer beer</pro>
<con>Fragile; excessive variance pub to pub</con>
</details>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</Beers>
6.3 Uniqueness of Attributes
Namespace constraint: Attributes Unique
In XML documents conforming
to this specification, no tag
may contain two attributes which:
have identical names, or
have qualified names with the same
local part and with
prefixes which have been bound
to namespace names that
are identical.
In XML documents conforming
to this specification, no tag
may contain two attributes which:
This constraint is equivalent to requiring that no element have two
attributes with the same
expanded name.
For example, each of the bad empty-element tags is illegal in the
following:
<!-- http://www.w3.org is bound to n1 and n2 -->
<x xmlns:n1="http://www.w3.org"
xmlns:n2="http://www.w3.org" >
<bad a="1" a="2" />
<bad n1:a="1" n2:a="2" />
</x>
However, each of the following is legal, the second because the default
namespace does not apply to attribute names:
<!-- http://www.w3.org is bound to n1 and is the default -->
<x xmlns:n1="http://www.w3.org"
xmlns="http://www.w3.org" >
<good a="1" b="2" />
<good a="1" n1:a="2" />
</x>
7 Conformance of Documents
This specification applies to XML 1.0
documents. To conform to this
specification, a document
MUST
be well-formed according to the
XML 1.0 specification [XML10][XML].
In XML documents which conform to this specification, element
and attribute names
MUST
match the production for
QName
and
MUST
satisfy the "Namespace Constraints". All other tokens in the
document which are
REQUIRED,
for XML 1.0 well-formedness, to match the
XML production for
Name
MUST
match this specification's production for
NCName.
[Definition:
A document is namespace-well-formed
if it conforms to this specification.
]
It follows that in a namespace-well-formed document:
All element and attribute names contain either zero or one
colon;
No entity names, processing instruction targets, or notation names contain any colons.
In addition, a namespace-well-formed document may also be namespace-valid.
[Definition:
A namespace-well-formed document is namespace-valid
if it is valid according to the XML 1.0 specification, and all tokens
other than element and attribute names which are
REQUIRED,
for XML 1.0 validity, to match the XML production for
Name
match this specification's production for
NCName.
]
It follows that in a namespace-valid document:
8 Conformance of Processors
To conform to this specification, a processor
MUST
report
violations of namespace well-formedness, with the exception that it
is not
REQUIRED
to check that namespace names are legal
URIs.
URI references [RFC3986].
[Definition:
A validating XML processor that conforms to this specification
is namespace-validating if in addition
it reports violations of namespace validity.
]