W3C HTML and XHTML Activity (Dave Raggett)

Dave Raggett of the W3C was one of many speakers to emphasize the explosion of new devices being developed with Web access capability (digital TVs, handhelds, phones, cars, etc.). HTML must be flexible enough to work on all such devices which is one of the main reasons for breaking HTML 4.0 into multiple modules.

Dave presented HTML Activity efforts from the formation of the HTML Working Group in fall 1995 to now. As for the near future, he predicted June 1999 would see Proposed Recommendations for XHTML 1.0 and HTML 4.01! "Work continues on requirements for next generation forms and document profiles."

Challenges include conflicting needs for subsetting HTML for simple clients and yet extending it for richer clients. XHTML (Extensible Hypertext Markup Language) will help address this problem:

• "A reformulation of HTML in XML with namespaces for HTML 4.0 strict, transitional and frameset DTDs
• Modularises HTML for subsetting/combining with other tag-sets
• Document Profiles provide basis for interoperability guarantees
• Next generation forms features offering improved match to database and workflow applications"

Dave Raggett's presentation on the W3C site contains further details. In particular, several slides contain very useful details:

• Moving to XML - describing syntax differences between XML and HTML
• Modularising HTML - about 20 categories of HTML elements such as Inline presentational, Block presentational, and Extended Forms
• Next Generation of HTML Forms and the following 3 slides of great features under consideration: low end, mid-level, and high end features

XML Update (Dan Connolly)
WWWhat Happened at WWW8?
RDF: Using XML to Describe Data (Ralph Swick)