1 \input texinfo @c -*- texinfo -*-
3 @setfilename ../../info/nxml-mode
8 This manual documents nXML mode, an Emacs major mode for editing
9 XML with RELAX NG support.
11 Copyright @copyright{} 2007--2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
14 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
15 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
16 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
17 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU Manual,''
18 and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the license
19 is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License''.
21 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have the freedom to copy and
22 modify this GNU manual.''
26 @dircategory Emacs editing modes
28 * nXML Mode: (nxml-mode). XML editing mode with RELAX NG support.
36 This manual is not yet complete.
41 * Inserting end-tags::
47 * GNU Free Documentation License:: The license for this documentation.
53 nXML mode is an Emacs major-mode for editing XML documents. It supports
54 editing well-formed XML documents, and provides schema-sensitive editing
55 using RELAX NG Compact Syntax. To get started, visit a file containing an
56 XML document, and, if necessary, use @kbd{M-x nxml-mode} to switch to nXML
57 mode. By default, @code{auto-mode-alist} and @code{magic-fallback-alist}
58 put buffers in nXML mode if they have recognizable XML content or file
59 extensions. You may wish to customize the settings, for example to
60 recognize different file extensions.
62 Once in nXML mode, you can type @kbd{C-h m} for basic information on the
65 The @file{etc/nxml} directory in the Emacs distribution contains some data
66 files used by nXML mode, and includes two files (@file{test-valid.xml} and
67 @file{test-invalid.xml}) that provide examples of valid and invalid XML
70 To get validation and schema-sensitive editing, you need a RELAX NG Compact
71 Syntax (RNC) schema for your document (@pxref{Locating a schema}). The
72 @file{etc/schema} directory includes some schemas for popular document
73 types. See @url{http://relaxng.org/} for more information on RELAX NG@.
74 You can use the @samp{Trang} program from
75 @url{http://www.thaiopensource.com/relaxng/trang.html} to
76 automatically create RNC schemas. This program can:
80 infer an RNC schema from an instance document;
82 convert a DTD to an RNC schema;
84 convert a RELAX NG XML syntax schema to an RNC schema.
87 @noindent To convert a RELAX NG XML syntax (@samp{.rng}) schema to a RNC
88 one, you can also use the XSLT stylesheet from
89 @url{http://www.pantor.com/download.html}.
91 To convert a W3C XML Schema to an RNC schema, you need first to convert it
92 to RELAX NG XML syntax using the RELAX NG converter tool @code{rngconv}
93 (built on top of MSV). See @url{https://github.com/kohsuke/msv}
94 and @url{https://msv.dev.java.net/}.
96 For historical discussions only, see the mailing list archives at
97 @url{http://groups.yahoo.com/group/emacs-nxml-mode/}. Please make all new
98 discussions on the @samp{help-gnu-emacs} and @samp{emacs-devel} mailing
99 lists. Report any bugs with @kbd{M-x report-emacs-bug}.
105 Apart from real-time validation, the most important feature that nXML
106 mode provides for assisting in document creation is "completion".
107 Completion assists the user in inserting characters at point, based on
108 knowledge of the schema and on the contents of the buffer before
111 nXML mode adapts the standard GNU Emacs command for completion in a
112 buffer: @code{completion-at-point}, which is bound to @kbd{C-M-i} and
113 @kbd{M-@key{TAB}}. Note that many window systems and window managers
114 use @kbd{M-@key{TAB}} themselves (typically for switching between
115 windows) and do not pass it to applications. In that case, you should
116 type @kbd{C-M-i} or @kbd{@key{ESC} @key{TAB}} for completion, or bind
117 @code{completion-at-point} to a key that is convenient for you. In
118 the following, I will assume that you type @kbd{C-M-i}.
120 nXML mode completion works by examining the symbol preceding point.
121 This is the symbol to be completed. The symbol to be completed may be
122 the empty. Completion considers what symbols starting with the symbol
123 to be completed would be valid replacements for the symbol to be
124 completed, given the schema and the contents of the buffer before
125 point. These symbols are the possible completions. An example may
126 make this clearer. Suppose the buffer looks like this (where @point{}
130 <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
135 and the schema is XHTML@. In this context, the symbol to be completed
136 is @samp{h}. The possible completions consist of just
137 @samp{head}. Another example, is
140 <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
146 In this case, the symbol to be completed is empty, and the possible
147 completions are @samp{base}, @samp{isindex},
148 @samp{link}, @samp{meta}, @samp{script},
149 @samp{style}, @samp{title}. Another example is:
152 <html xmlns="@point{}
156 In this case, the symbol to be completed is empty, and the possible
157 completions are just @samp{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}.
159 When you type @kbd{C-M-i}, what happens depends
160 on what the set of possible completions are.
164 If the set of completions is empty, nothing
167 If there is one possible completion, then that completion is
168 inserted, together with any following characters that are
169 required. For example, in this case:
172 <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
177 @kbd{C-M-i} will yield
180 <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
184 If there is more than one possible completion, but all
185 possible completions share a common non-empty prefix, then that prefix
186 is inserted. For example, suppose the buffer is:
193 The symbol to be completed is @samp{x}. The possible completions are
194 @samp{xmlns} and @samp{xml:lang}. These share a common prefix of
195 @samp{xml}. Thus, @kbd{C-M-i} will yield:
202 Typically, you would do @kbd{C-M-i} again, which would have the result
203 described in the next item.
205 If there is more than one possible completion, but the
206 possible completions do not share a non-empty prefix, then Emacs will
207 prompt you to input the symbol in the minibuffer, initializing the
208 minibuffer with the symbol to be completed, and popping up a buffer
209 showing the possible completions. You can now input the symbol to be
210 inserted. The symbol you input will be inserted in the buffer instead
211 of the symbol to be completed. Emacs will then insert any required
212 characters after the symbol. For example, if it contains:
219 Emacs will prompt you in the minibuffer with
222 Attribute: xml@point{}
226 and the buffer showing possible completions will contain
229 Possible completions are:
234 If you input @kbd{xmlns}, the result will be:
237 <html xmlns="@point{}
241 (If you do @kbd{C-M-i} again, the namespace URI will be
242 inserted. Should that happen automatically?)
245 @node Inserting end-tags
246 @chapter Inserting end-tags
248 The main redundancy in XML syntax is end-tags. nXML mode provides
249 several ways to make it easier to enter end-tags. You can use all of
250 these without a schema.
252 You can use @kbd{C-M-i} after @samp{</} to complete the rest of the
255 @kbd{C-c C-f} inserts an end-tag for the element containing
256 point. This command is useful when you want to input the start-tag,
257 then input the content and finally input the end-tag. The @samp{f}
258 is mnemonic for finish.
260 If you want to keep tags balanced and input the end-tag at the
261 same time as the start-tag, before inputting the content, then you can
262 use @kbd{C-c C-i}. This inserts a @samp{>}, then inserts
263 the end-tag and leaves point before the end-tag. @kbd{C-c C-b}
264 is similar but more convenient for block-level elements: it puts the
265 start-tag, point and the end-tag on successive lines, appropriately
266 indented. The @samp{i} is mnemonic for inline and the
267 @samp{b} is mnemonic for block.
269 Finally, you can customize nXML mode so that @kbd{/} automatically
270 inserts the rest of the end-tag when it occurs after @samp{<}, by
274 @kbd{M-x customize-variable @key{RET} nxml-slash-auto-complete-flag @key{RET}}
278 and then following the instructions in the displayed buffer.
283 Emacs has several commands that operate on paragraphs, most
284 notably @kbd{M-q}. nXML mode redefines these to work in a way
285 that is useful for XML@. The exact rules that are used to find the
286 beginning and end of a paragraph are complicated; they are designed
287 mainly to ensure that @kbd{M-q} does the right thing.
289 A paragraph consists of one or more complete, consecutive lines.
290 A group of lines is not considered a paragraph unless it contains some
291 non-whitespace characters between tags or inside comments. A blank
292 line separates paragraphs. A single tag on a line by itself also
293 separates paragraphs. More precisely, if one tag together with any
294 leading and trailing whitespace completely occupy one or more lines,
295 then those lines will not be included in any paragraph.
297 A start-tag at the beginning of the line (possibly indented) may
298 be treated as starting a paragraph. Similarly, an end-tag at the end
299 of the line may be treated as ending a paragraph. The following rules
300 are used to determine whether such a tag is in fact treated as a
305 If the schema does not allow text at that point, then it
306 is a paragraph boundary.
308 If the end-tag corresponding to the start-tag is not at
309 the end of its line, or the start-tag corresponding to the end-tag is
310 not at the beginning of its line, then it is not a paragraph
311 boundary. For example, in
314 <p>This is a paragraph with an
315 <emph>emphasized</emph> phrase.
319 the @samp{<emph>} start-tag would not be considered as
320 starting a paragraph, because its corresponding end-tag is not at the
323 If there is text that is a sibling in element tree, then
324 it is not a paragraph boundary. For example, in
327 <p>This is a paragraph with an
328 <emph>emphasized phrase that takes one source line</emph>
332 the @samp{<emph>} start-tag would not be considered as
333 starting a paragraph, even though its end-tag is at the end of its
334 line, because there the text @samp{This is a paragraph with an}
335 is a sibling of the @samp{emph} element.
337 Otherwise, it is a paragraph boundary.
343 nXML mode allows you to display all or part of a buffer as an
344 outline, in a similar way to Emacs's outline mode. An outline in nXML
345 mode is based on recognizing two kinds of element: sections and
346 headings. There is one heading for every section and one section for
347 every heading. A section contains its heading as or within its first
348 child element. A section also contains its subordinate sections (its
349 subsections). The text content of a section consists of anything in a
350 section that is neither a subsection nor a heading.
352 Note that this is a different model from that used by XHTML@.
353 nXML mode's outline support will not be useful for XHTML unless you
354 adopt a convention of adding a @code{div} to enclose each
355 section, rather than having sections implicitly delimited by different
356 @code{h@var{n}} elements. This limitation may be removed
359 The variable @code{nxml-section-element-name-regexp} gives
360 a regexp for the local names (i.e., the part of the name following any
361 prefix) of section elements. The variable
362 @code{nxml-heading-element-name-regexp} gives a regexp for the
363 local names of heading elements. For an element to be recognized
368 its start-tag must occur at the beginning of a line
371 its local name must match
372 @code{nxml-section-element-name-regexp};
374 either its first child element or a descendant of that
375 first child element must have a local name that matches
376 @code{nxml-heading-element-name-regexp}; the first such element
377 is treated as the section's heading.
381 You can customize these variables using @kbd{M-x
384 There are three possible outline states for a section:
388 normal, showing everything, including its heading, text
389 content and subsections; each subsection is displayed according to the
390 state of that subsection;
392 showing just its heading, with both its text content and
393 its subsections hidden; all subsections are hidden regardless of their
396 showing its heading and its subsections, with its text
397 content hidden; each subsection is displayed according to the state of
401 In the last two states, where the text content is hidden, the
402 heading is displayed specially, in an abbreviated form. An element
408 <para>There are many kinds of food.</para>
413 would be displayed on a single line like this:
420 If there are hidden subsections, then a @code{+} will be used
421 instead of a @code{-} like this:
428 If there are non-hidden subsections, then the section will instead be
433 <-section>Delicious Food...</>
434 <-section>Distasteful Food...</>
439 The heading is always displayed with an indent that corresponds to its
440 depth in the outline, even it is not actually indented in the buffer.
441 The variable @code{nxml-outline-child-indent} controls how much
442 a subheading is indented with respect to its parent heading when the
443 heading is being displayed specially.
445 Commands to change the outline state of sections are bound to
446 key sequences that start with @kbd{C-c C-o} (@kbd{o} is
447 mnemonic for outline). The third and final key has been chosen to be
448 consistent with outline mode. In the following descriptions
449 current section means the section containing point, or, more precisely,
450 the innermost section containing the character immediately following
455 @kbd{C-c C-o C-a} shows all sections in the buffer
458 @kbd{C-c C-o C-t} hides the text content
459 of all sections in the buffer.
461 @kbd{C-c C-o C-c} hides the text content
462 of the current section.
464 @kbd{C-c C-o C-e} shows the text content
465 of the current section.
467 @kbd{C-c C-o C-d} hides the text content
468 and subsections of the current section.
470 @kbd{C-c C-o C-s} shows the current section
471 and all its direct and indirect subsections normally.
473 @kbd{C-c C-o C-k} shows the headings of the
474 direct and indirect subsections of the current section.
476 @kbd{C-c C-o C-l} hides the text content of the
477 current section and of its direct and indirect
480 @kbd{C-c C-o C-i} shows the headings of the
481 direct subsections of the current section.
483 @kbd{C-c C-o C-o} hides as much as possible without
484 hiding the current section's text content; the headings of ancestor
485 sections of the current section and their child section sections will
489 When a heading is displayed specially, you can use
490 @key{RET} in that heading to show the text content of the section
491 in the same way as @kbd{C-c C-o C-e}.
493 You can also use the mouse to change the outline state:
494 @kbd{S-mouse-2} hides the text content of a section in the same
495 way as@kbd{C-c C-o C-c}; @kbd{mouse-2} on a specially
496 displayed heading shows the text content of the section in the same
497 way as @kbd{C-c C-o C-e}; @kbd{mouse-1} on a specially
498 displayed start-tag toggles the display of subheadings on and
501 The outline state for each section is stored with the first
502 character of the section (as a text property). Every command that
503 changes the outline state of any section updates the display of the
504 buffer so that each section is displayed correctly according to its
505 outline state. If the section structure is subsequently changed, then
506 it is possible for the display to no longer correctly reflect the
507 stored outline state. @kbd{C-c C-o C-r} can be used to refresh
508 the display so it is correct again.
510 @node Locating a schema
511 @chapter Locating a schema
513 nXML mode has a configurable set of rules to locate a schema for
514 the file being edited. The rules are contained in one or more schema
515 locating files, which are XML documents.
517 The variable @samp{rng-schema-locating-files} specifies
518 the list of the file-names of schema locating files that nXML mode
519 should use. The order of the list is significant: when file
520 @var{x} occurs in the list before file @var{y} then rules
521 from file @var{x} have precedence over rules from file
522 @var{y}. A filename specified in
523 @samp{rng-schema-locating-files} may be relative. If so, it will
524 be resolved relative to the document for which a schema is being
525 located. It is not an error if relative file-names in
526 @samp{rng-schema-locating-files} do not exist. You can use
527 @kbd{M-x customize-variable @key{RET} rng-schema-locating-files
528 @key{RET}} to customize the list of schema locating
531 By default, @samp{rng-schema-locating-files} list has two
532 members: @samp{schemas.xml}, and
533 @samp{@var{dist-dir}/schema/schemas.xml} where
534 @samp{@var{dist-dir}} is the directory containing the nXML
535 distribution. The first member will cause nXML mode to use a file
536 @samp{schemas.xml} in the same directory as the document being
537 edited if such a file exist. The second member contains rules for the
538 schemas that are included with the nXML distribution.
541 * Commands for locating a schema::
542 * Schema locating files::
545 @node Commands for locating a schema
546 @section Commands for locating a schema
548 The command @kbd{C-c C-s C-w} will tell you what schema
549 is currently being used.
551 The rules for locating a schema are applied automatically when
552 you visit a file in nXML mode. However, if you have just created a new
553 file and the schema cannot be inferred from the file-name, then this
554 will not locate the right schema. In this case, you should insert the
555 start-tag of the root element and then use the command @kbd{C-c C-s
556 C-a}, which reapplies the rules based on the current content of
557 the document. It is usually not necessary to insert the complete
558 start-tag; often just @samp{<@var{name}} is
561 If you want to use a schema that has not yet been added to the
562 schema locating files, you can use the command @kbd{C-c C-s C-f}
563 to manually select the file containing the schema for the document in
564 current buffer. Emacs will read the file-name of the schema from the
565 minibuffer. After reading the file-name, Emacs will ask whether you
566 wish to add a rule to a schema locating file that persistently
567 associates the document with the selected schema. The rule will be
568 added to the first file in the list specified
569 @samp{rng-schema-locating-files}; it will create the file if
570 necessary, but will not create a directory. If the variable
571 @samp{rng-schema-locating-files} has not been customized, this
572 means that the rule will be added to the file @samp{schemas.xml}
573 in the same directory as the document being edited.
575 The command @kbd{C-c C-s C-t} allows you to select a schema by
576 specifying an identifier for the type of the document. The schema
577 locating files determine the available type identifiers and what
578 schema is used for each type identifier. This is useful when it is
579 impossible to infer the right schema from either the file-name or the
580 content of the document, even though the schema is already in the
581 schema locating file. A situation in which this can occur is when
582 there are multiple variants of a schema where all valid documents have
583 the same document element. For example, XHTML has Strict and
584 Transitional variants. In a situation like this, a schema locating file
585 can define a type identifier for each variant. As with @kbd{C-c
586 C-s C-f}, Emacs will ask whether you wish to add a rule to a schema
587 locating file that persistently associates the document with the
588 specified type identifier.
590 The command @kbd{C-c C-s C-l} adds a rule to a schema
591 locating file that persistently associates the document with
592 the schema that is currently being used.
594 @node Schema locating files
595 @section Schema locating files
597 Each schema locating file specifies a list of rules. The rules
598 from each file are appended in order. To locate a schema each rule is
599 applied in turn until a rule matches. The first matching rule is then
600 used to determine the schema.
602 Schema locating files are designed to be useful for other
603 applications that need to locate a schema for a document. In fact,
604 there is nothing specific to locating schemas in the design; it could
605 equally well be used for locating a stylesheet.
608 * Schema locating file syntax basics::
609 * Using the document's URI to locate a schema::
610 * Using the document element to locate a schema::
611 * Using type identifiers in schema locating files::
612 * Using multiple schema locating files::
615 @node Schema locating file syntax basics
616 @subsection Schema locating file syntax basics
618 There is a schema for schema locating files in the file
619 @samp{locate.rnc} in the schema directory. Schema locating
620 files must be valid with respect to this schema.
622 The document element of a schema locating file must be
623 @samp{locatingRules} and the namespace URI must be
624 @samp{http://thaiopensource.com/ns/locating-rules/1.0}. The
625 children of the document element specify rules. The order of the
626 children is the same as the order of the rules. Here's a complete
627 example of a schema locating file:
630 <?xml version="1.0"?>
631 <locatingRules xmlns="http://thaiopensource.com/ns/locating-rules/1.0">
632 <namespace ns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" uri="xhtml.rnc"/>
633 <documentElement localName="book" uri="docbook.rnc"/>
638 This says to use the schema @samp{xhtml.rnc} for a document with
639 namespace @samp{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}, and to use the
640 schema @samp{docbook.rnc} for a document whose local name is
641 @samp{book}. If the document element had both a namespace URI
642 of @samp{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml} and a local name of
643 @samp{book}, then the matching rule that comes first will be
644 used and so the schema @samp{xhtml.rnc} would be used. There is
645 no precedence between different types of rule; the first matching rule
648 As usual with XML-related technologies, resources are identified
649 by URIs. The @samp{uri} attribute identifies the schema by
650 specifying the URI@. The URI may be relative. If so, it is resolved
651 relative to the URI of the schema locating file that contains
652 attribute. This means that if the value of @samp{uri} attribute
653 does not contain a @samp{/}, then it will refer to a filename in
654 the same directory as the schema locating file.
656 @node Using the document's URI to locate a schema
657 @subsection Using the document's URI to locate a schema
659 A @samp{uri} rule locates a schema based on the URI of the
660 document. The @samp{uri} attribute specifies the URI of the
661 schema. The @samp{resource} attribute can be used to specify
662 the schema for a particular document. For example,
665 <uri resource="spec.xml" uri="docbook.rnc"/>
669 specifies that the schema for @samp{spec.xml} is
672 The @samp{pattern} attribute can be used instead of the
673 @samp{resource} attribute to specify the schema for any document
674 whose URI matches a pattern. The pattern has the same syntax as an
675 absolute or relative URI except that the path component of the URI can
676 use a @samp{*} character to stand for zero or more characters
677 within a path segment (i.e., any character other @samp{/}).
678 Typically, the URI pattern looks like a relative URI, but, whereas a
679 relative URI in the @samp{resource} attribute is resolved into a
680 particular absolute URI using the base URI of the schema locating
681 file, a relative URI pattern matches if it matches some number of
682 complete path segments of the document's URI ending with the last path
683 segment of the document's URI@. For example,
686 <uri pattern="*.xsl" uri="xslt.rnc"/>
690 specifies that the schema for documents with a URI whose path ends
691 with @samp{.xsl} is @samp{xslt.rnc}.
693 A @samp{transformURI} rule locates a schema by
694 transforming the URI of the document. The @samp{fromPattern}
695 attribute specifies a URI pattern with the same meaning as the
696 @samp{pattern} attribute of the @samp{uri} element. The
697 @samp{toPattern} attribute is a URI pattern that is used to
698 generate the URI of the schema. Each @samp{*} in the
699 @samp{toPattern} is replaced by the string that matched the
700 corresponding @samp{*} in the @samp{fromPattern}. The
701 resulting string is appended to the initial part of the document's URI
702 that was not explicitly matched by the @samp{fromPattern}. The
703 rule matches only if the transformed URI identifies an existing
704 resource. For example, the rule
707 <transformURI fromPattern="*.xml" toPattern="*.rnc"/>
711 would transform the URI @samp{file:///home/jjc/docs/spec.xml}
712 into the URI @samp{file:///home/jjc/docs/spec.rnc}. Thus, this
713 rule specifies that to locate a schema for a document
714 @samp{@var{foo}.xml}, Emacs should test whether a file
715 @samp{@var{foo}.rnc} exists in the same directory as
716 @samp{@var{foo}.xml}, and, if so, should use it as the
719 @node Using the document element to locate a schema
720 @subsection Using the document element to locate a schema
722 A @samp{documentElement} rule locates a schema based on
723 the local name and prefix of the document element. For example, a rule
726 <documentElement prefix="xsl" localName="stylesheet" uri="xslt.rnc"/>
730 specifies that when the name of the document element is
731 @samp{xsl:stylesheet}, then @samp{xslt.rnc} should be used
732 as the schema. Either the @samp{prefix} or
733 @samp{localName} attribute may be omitted to allow any prefix or
736 A @samp{namespace} rule locates a schema based on the
737 namespace URI of the document element. For example, a rule
740 <namespace ns="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" uri="xslt.rnc"/>
744 specifies that when the namespace URI of the document is
745 @samp{http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform}, then
746 @samp{xslt.rnc} should be used as the schema.
748 @node Using type identifiers in schema locating files
749 @subsection Using type identifiers in schema locating files
751 Type identifiers allow a level of indirection in locating the
752 schema for a document. Instead of associating the document directly
753 with a schema URI, the document is associated with a type identifier,
754 which is in turn associated with a schema URI@. nXML mode does not
755 constrain the format of type identifiers. They can be simply strings
756 without any formal structure or they can be public identifiers or
757 URIs. Note that these type identifiers have nothing to do with the
758 DOCTYPE declaration. When comparing type identifiers, whitespace is
759 normalized in the same way as with the @samp{xsd:token}
760 datatype: leading and trailing whitespace is stripped; other sequences
761 of whitespace are normalized to a single space character.
763 Each of the rules described in previous sections that uses a
764 @samp{uri} attribute to specify a schema, can instead use a
765 @samp{typeId} attribute to specify a type identifier. The type
766 identifier can be associated with a URI using a @samp{typeId}
767 element. For example,
770 <locatingRules xmlns="http://thaiopensource.com/ns/locating-rules/1.0">
771 <namespace ns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" typeId="XHTML"/>
772 <typeId id="XHTML" typeId="XHTML Strict"/>
773 <typeId id="XHTML Strict" uri="xhtml-strict.rnc"/>
774 <typeId id="XHTML Transitional" uri="xhtml-transitional.rnc"/>
779 declares three type identifiers @samp{XHTML} (representing the
780 default variant of XHTML to be used), @samp{XHTML Strict} and
781 @samp{XHTML Transitional}. Such a schema locating file would
782 use @samp{xhtml-strict.rnc} for a document whose namespace is
783 @samp{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}. But it is considerably
784 more flexible than a schema locating file that simply specified
787 <namespace ns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" uri="xhtml-strict.rnc"/>
791 A user can easily use @kbd{C-c C-s C-t} to select between XHTML
792 Strict and XHTML Transitional. Also, a user can easily add a catalog
795 <locatingRules xmlns="http://thaiopensource.com/ns/locating-rules/1.0">
796 <typeId id="XHTML" typeId="XHTML Transitional"/>
801 that makes the default variant of XHTML be XHTML Transitional.
803 @node Using multiple schema locating files
804 @subsection Using multiple schema locating files
806 The @samp{include} element includes rules from another
807 schema locating file. The behavior is exactly as if the rules from
808 that file were included in place of the @samp{include} element.
809 Relative URIs are resolved into absolute URIs before the inclusion is
810 performed. For example,
813 <include rules="../rules.xml"/>
817 includes the rules from @samp{rules.xml}.
819 The process of locating a schema takes as input a list of schema
820 locating files. The rules in all these files and in the files they
821 include are resolved into a single list of rules, which are applied
822 strictly in order. Sometimes this order is not what is needed.
823 For example, suppose you have two schema locating files, a private
827 <locatingRules xmlns="http://thaiopensource.com/ns/locating-rules/1.0">
828 <namespace ns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" uri="xhtml.rnc"/>
833 followed by a public file
836 <locatingRules xmlns="http://thaiopensource.com/ns/locating-rules/1.0">
837 <transformURI pathSuffix=".xml" replacePathSuffix=".rnc"/>
838 <namespace ns="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" typeId="XSLT"/>
843 The effect of these two files is that the XHTML @samp{namespace}
844 rule takes precedence over the @samp{transformURI} rule, which
845 is almost certainly not what is needed. This can be solved by adding
846 an @samp{applyFollowingRules} to the private file.
849 <locatingRules xmlns="http://thaiopensource.com/ns/locating-rules/1.0">
850 <applyFollowingRules ruleType="transformURI"/>
851 <namespace ns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" uri="xhtml.rnc"/>
858 nXML mode is designed to support the creation of standalone XML
859 documents that do not depend on a DTD@. Although it is common practice
860 to insert a DOCTYPE declaration referencing an external DTD, this has
861 undesirable side-effects. It means that the document is no longer
862 self-contained. It also means that different XML parsers may interpret
863 the document in different ways, since the XML Recommendation does not
864 require XML parsers to read the DTD@. With DTDs, it was impractical to
865 get validation without using an external DTD or reference to an
866 parameter entity. With RELAX NG and other schema languages, you can
867 simultaneously get the benefits of validation and standalone XML
868 documents. Therefore, I recommend that you do not reference an
869 external DOCTYPE in your XML documents.
871 One problem is entities for characters. Typically, as well as
872 providing validation, DTDs also provide a set of character entities
873 for documents to use. Schemas cannot provide this functionality,
874 because schema validation happens after XML parsing. The recommended
875 solution is to either use the Unicode characters directly, or, if this
876 is impractical, use character references. nXML mode supports this by
877 providing commands for entering characters and character references
878 using the Unicode names, and can display the glyph corresponding to a
884 nXML mode has some limitations:
888 DTD support is limited. Internal parsed general entities declared
889 in the internal subset are supported provided they do not contain
890 elements. Other usage of DTDs is ignored.
892 The restrictions on RELAX NG schemas in section 7 of the RELAX NG
893 specification are not enforced.
896 @node GNU Free Documentation License
897 @appendix GNU Free Documentation License
898 @include doclicense.texi