XSML

A more human-readable web alternative to HTML.

What is XSML?

XSML stands for eXtensible Site Markup Language. XSML was based off of HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) and written in XML. It is a more human-readable alternative to HTML. This project is potentially the start of interactive, client-side, XML-based sites.

Where to start?

All you need to do is download an official release from this repository. Once extracted, make sure the folder you want to host your XML files in has xsml.xsl and xsml.xsd. In your XML file, add the following tags:

	<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
	<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="xsml.xsl"?>
	<xsml title="Document Title Here" language="Language Code Here" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="xsml.xsd"></xsml>

This is a lot for 3 lines of code, but we'll break it down.

• <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>: This tag declares the file to be an XML document. It sets the XML version and the character set to use.
• <?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="xsml.xsl"?>: This tag references xsml.xsl to the document for XML transformation.
• <xsml title="..." language="..." xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="xsml.xsd"></xsml>: This tag sets the root element for XSML.
  • The title attribute sets the document title when displayed.
  • The language attribute sets the language code for the document. Just as a note, the language attribute does not change the language displayed from output.
  • The xmlns:xsi attribute sets the namespace for the xsi prefix. This is required to load xsml.xsd to validate your file. It's recommended to set the attribute to http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance.
  • The xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation attribute references xsml.xsd to the document for validation. noNamespaceSchemaLocation does not require a namespace to find the schema file, but you do need the namespace to use the noNamespaceSchemaLocation attribute.

Like HTML, XSML has elements to choose from. Here is a list of all that can be used.

XSML Elements

Element	Definition	Content	Attributes
<audio location="filename" type="mime-type" />	Defines an audio object	No content	location: References an audio file from a local or remote server type: The MIME type of the referenced file. See table below for available MIME types
<bold>Text Content</bold>	Defines bolded text	Text only	No attributes
<break type="break-type" />	Defines a line or block break	No content	type: The type of break of the element. Acceptable values: block, inline
<button action="JavaScript-code">Text Content</button>	Defines a clickable button	Text only	action: The JavaScript code to execute upon button click
<cell type="text-type">Text Content</cell>	Defines a cell in a table	Text only	type: Sets the type of text format. Acceptable values: header, normal
<embed location="filename" />	Defines an interactive object	No content	location: References an interactive file from a local or remote server
<header level="header-level">Text Content</header>	Defines a header	Text only	level: Sets the size of the header. Acceptable values: 1-6
<highlight>Text Content</highlight>	Defines highlighted text	Text only	No attributes
<hyperlink location="filename">Text Content</hyperlink>	Defines a link to another webpage	Text only	location: References a webpage from a local or remote server
<image location="filename" alt-text="Text Content" />	Defines an image	No Content	location: References an image from a local or remote server alt-text: Displays text if the image fails to load
<italic>Text Content</italic>	Defines italicized text	Text only	No attributes
<item>Text Content</item>	Defines a list item	Text only	No attributes
<list type="list-type">Element Content</list>	Defines a list	Elements allowed: <item>	type: Sets the type of list. Acceptable values: ordered, unordered
<quote type="quote-type">Text Content</quote>	Defines a quote	Text only	type: Sets the type of quote. Acceptable values: block, inline
<row>Element Content</row>	Defines a row in a table	Elements allowed: <cell>	No attributes
<strikethrough>Text Content</strikethrough>	Defines striked out text	Text only	No attributes
<subscript>Text Content</subscript>	Defines subscripted text	Text only	No attributes
<superscript>Text Content</superscript>	Defines superscripted text	Text only	No attributes
<table>Element Content</table>	Defines a table	Elements allowed: <row>	No attributes
<text>Text Content</text>	Defines normal text	Text only	No attributes
<underline>Text Content</underline>	Defines underlined text	Text only	No attributes
<video location="filename" type="mime-type" />	Defines a video object	No content	location: References a video file from a local or remote server type: The MIME type of the referenced file. See table below for available MIME types
<webframe location="filename" />	Defines an external webpage frame	No content	location: References a webpage to display

MIME Types (Full web support) (applies to <audio> and <video> only)

File extension	File type	MIME type
.mp3	Audio	audio/mpeg
.wav	Audio	audio/wav
.ogg	Audio/Video	audio/ogg video/ogg
.mp4	Video	video/mp4
.webm	Video	video/webm

Target Values (applies to <link> only)

• _blank: Opens in a new tab/window
• _parent: Opens in the parent frame
• _self: Opens in the same tab/window
• _top: Opens in the full body of the window

Update Log

• May 28, 2022: The XSML 1.0 Pre-release is now available on GitHub! View the release here. Make sure to stop by the discussion board to give ideas, suggestions, and feeling about this ongoing project.
• October 9, 2022: XSML 1.0 has been officially been released. View the release here. Stop by the discussion board for comments, improvements, bugs, and suggestions for the next big release.