W3C XML Pointer, XML Base and XML Linking
The XML Linking Working Group has completed its work and is no
longer active. The XML Activity
Statement discusses the W3C's work on XML as a whole; the
XML
Linking Working Group's final charter covers its last set of
work on XML Linking and XPointer in more detail. Responsibility for
maintenance of documents issued by the WG rests with the XML Core Working Group in the
first instance.
A public registry for XPointer schemes is available.
Check the Implementation Chart.
XML Linking and
XML Base reached
Recommendation status on June 27th 2001
XPointer reached Recommendation status on 25 March 2003, in
three parts: XPointer Framework,
XPointer element()
scheme and XPointer
xmlns() scheme
Description
This specification defines the XML Linking Language (XLink),
which allows elements to be inserted into XML documents in order to
create and describe links between resources. It uses XML syntax to
create structures that can describe the simple unidirectional
hyperlinks of today's HTML, as well as more sophisticated
links.
W3C Status
Documentation and associated resources
Implementations
- The open source XBRLAPI
XLink processor provides comprehensive support for identifying
XLink related-events during SAX parsing of XML streams. The Java
library and documentation is available from Sourceforge.
- X2X from
empolis UK Ltd. is an XML XLink Engine. X2X allows linking between
documents and information resources without needing to change the
resources that are being linked. X2X removes the requirement to
insert link information inside document content. The Links are NOT
in the document.
- Fujitsu XLink
Processor : Fujitsu XLink Processor, which is developed by
Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd., is an implementation of XLink and
XPointer.
- xlinkit.com : is a
lightweight application service which provides rule-based XLink
generation and checks the consistency of distributed documents and
web content. You tell xlinkit.com the information you want to link
and rules that relate the information. xlinkit.com will generate
the links that you can then use for navigation. It will also
diagnose inconsistent information.
- Mozilla: The Opensource
browser has support for XLinks simple links.
- Amaya: The W3C editor/browser now
supports XLinks simple links too.
- XTooX is a
free XLink processor that turns extended, out-of-line links into
inline links. It takes as its input a linkbase - a document
containing only XLinks - and puts the links into the referenced
documents. XTooX is available under the GNU Lesser General Public
License.
Description
This specification proposes syntax for providing the equivalent
of HTML BASE functionality generically in XML documents by defining
an XML attribute named xml:base.
W3C Status
Documentation and associated resources
Implementations
Description
This work defines the XML Pointer Language (XPointer), the
language to be used as a fragment identifier for any URI-reference
that locates a resource of Internet media type
text/xml
or application/xml
.
XPointer has been split into a framework for specifying location
schemes, and three schemes: element(), xmlns() and xpointer(). The
framework and the first two schemes form the XPointer
Recommendation, and provide a minimal inventory of mechanisms.
The xpointer() scheme, which is based on the XML Path Language
(XPath), is still under development. It supports addressing into
the internal structures of XML documents. It allows for traversals
of a document tree and choice of its internal parts based on
various properties, such as element types, attribute values,
character content, and relative position.
W3C Status
- Recommendation, published 25 March 2003: XPointer
Framework, XPointer
element() scheme and XPointer
xmlns() scheme.
- Working Draft, published 19 September 2002: XPointer
xpointer() scheme
- Proposed Recommendations, published 13 November 2002: XPointer
Framework, XPointer
element() scheme and XPointer
xmlns() scheme.
- Working draft of now-separate XPointer xpointer() scheme,
published 10 July 2002: XPointer
xpointer() scheme
- Second Last Call, published on 10 July 2002, split into parts:
XPointer
Framework, XPointer element()
scheme and XPointer xmlns()
scheme
- First CR: published as a
Candidate Recommendation, 11 September 2001. CR period ends 4
March 2002.
- Disposition
of second Last Call comments
- Second last call version: Reenter Last Call 8 january 2001
till 29 january
- the XPointer CR
DoC
- Disposition of Last
Call comments
- Feb '99: W3C Note: XML
XPointer Requirements Version 1.0
- working group: XML
Linking
- feedback: www-xml-linking-comments
Documentation and associated resources
Implementations
- Fujitsu XLink
Processor : Fujitsu XLink Processor, which is developed by
Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd., is an implementation of XLink and
(almost all of) XPointer.
- libxml : the Gnome XML
library has a beta implementation of XPointer. The full syntax is
supported but the testsuite does not cover all aspects yet.
-
4XPointer : this is an XPointer Processor Written in Python by
Fourthought, Inc.
- At the University of Bologna two different
implementations of XPointer are in progress, one in Javascript
for ASP pages and another in Java.
- XPointerLib, from
the Connexions project, a mozdev.org project providing XPointer
support for Mozilla / Netscape 7 / Phoenix browsers. It is an XPCOM
service written in JavaScript that creates and resolves a subset of
the XPointer language.
Henry S. Thompson
Created by Dan Connolly April 2000
$Revision: 1.62 $ $Date: 2005/05/12 12:49:23
$