XHTML 1.1 - Module-based XHTML (2/2) - exploring XML

XHTML 1.1 - Module-based XHTML

XHTML modules

The XHTML 1.1 document type is made up of the following XHTML modules:

Structure Module: Defines the document structure: body, head, html, title
Text Module: Defines fragments of the document text: 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: Defines hyperlinks to other documents or fragments: a
List Module: Defines list structures embedded in the document text: dl, dt, dd, ol, ul, li
Object Module: Defines executable content, such as beans or ActiveX controls: object, param
Presentation Module: Defines text formatting: b, big, hr, i, small, sub, sup, tt
Edit Module: Defines editing-related markup: del, ins
Bidirectional Text Module: Defines left-to-right or right-to-left orientation: bdo
Forms Module: Defines input form controls: button, fieldset, form, input, label, legend, select, optgroup, option, textarea
Table Module: Defines tabular data layout: caption, col, colgroup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr
Image Module: Defines inline image content: img
Client-side Image Map Module: Defines client-side image maps: area, map
Server-side Image Map Module: Defines server-side image maps: ismap on img
Intrinsic Events Module: Defines onXXX events attributes
Metainformation Module: Defines the meta tag
Scripting Module: Defines noscript, script
Stylesheet Module: Defines the style element
Style Attribute Module Deprecated: Defines the style attribute; Link Module
Defines the link element
Base Module: Defines the base element

For further information see the XHTML Reference.

XHTML also uses the Ruby Annotation module: Ruby is the term used for a run of text that is associated with another run of text, referred to as the base. Ruby text is used to provide a short annotation of the associated base text. It is most often used to provide a reading (pronunciation guide). Ruby annotations are used frequently in Japan in many kinds of publications, including books and magazines. Ruby is also used in China, especially in schoolbooks.

Ruby Annotation Module: ruby, rbc, rtc, rb, rt, rp

A discussion of ruby text is beyond the scope of this article, fo further reference see the W3C Document on Ruby Annotation.

Changes from XHTML 1.0 Strict

XHTML 1.1 represents a departure from both HTML 4 and XHTML 1.0. Most significant is the removal of features that were deprecated. In general, the strategy is to define a markup language that is rich in structural functionality, but that relies upon style sheets for presentation.

The differences can be summarized as follows:

On every element, the lang attribute has been removed in favor of the xml:lang attribute.
On the a and map elements, the name attribute has been removed in favor of the id attribute.
The " ruby " collection of elements has been added.

Conclusion

XHTML 1.1 is one step further to leaving the haze of HTML behind and moving towards clearer XML grounds. More compact browser implementations in more diverse appliances will offer more ubiquitous access to Web content in the near future.

XHTML 1.1 - Module-based XHTML (2/2) - exploring XML