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This note describes the time line for deliverables of the HTML working group. It will be updated from time to time.
This document is a Note of the W3C's HTML working group. It describes the plans of the working group for each of its deliverables. While those plans may change, they represent the group's best guess as of the date on this document. This Note may be updated, replaced or rendered obsolete by other W3C documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use W3C Notes as reference material or to cite them as other than "work in progress". This document is work in progress and does not imply endorsement by the W3C membership.
This document has been produced as part of the W3C HTML Activity. The goals of the HTML Working Group (members only) are discussed in the HTML Working Group charter (members only). The HTML WG charter currently expires in March 2000, but can be extended, if necessary.
Please send detailed comments on this document to www-html-editor@w3.org. We cannot guarantee a personal response, but we will try when it is appropriate. Public discussion on HTML features takes place on the mailing list www-html@w3.org.
A list of current W3C Recommendations and other technical documents can be found at http://www.w3.org/TR.
The HTML Working Group is chartered with the development of an extensible, sub-settable version of HTML that is compatible with XML. It is also chartered with the development of some extensions to HTML - notably in the area of forms. This group's current activities commenced in August 1998, and are scheduled to complete before April 2000. The purpose of this document is to describe the activities of the HTML Working Group, define general milestones for each sub-project, and outline the inter-dependencies among the various deliverables.
This document reflects the project plan of the HTML Working Group. As such, it is a living document subject to change without notice.
The HTML Working Group's goals van be summarized as follows:
HTML 4.01 is an updated recommendation for HTML 4.0 that incorporates editorial corrections and bug fixes for problems detected since HTML 4.0 became a recommendation. W3C has no intention to extend HTML 4 as such. Instead, further work is focusing on a reformulation of HTML in XML.
The XHTML 1.0 specification reformulates HTML 4.0 in XML, bring the rigor of XML to HTML. XHTML 1.0 can be rendered on existing HTML 4.0 user agents by following the guidelines given in the XHTML 1.0 specification.
For resource constrained devices, it may be impractical to support all of XHTML. Subsets of XHTML are limited to combining selected XHTML modules, and once a module has been chosen, all of its features must be supported. XHTML 1.1 provides an example of how to combine XHTML modules. The modules have been formalized using XML 1.0 DTDs, and further work is planned on recasting them with XML schemas.
The W3C Document Object Model level 2 defines a new event mechanism where event handlers can be attached to elements in such a way that ancestor elements can handle events before or after child elements. The HTML working group is defining an XHTML module to support the DOM level 2 event model.
Authors need a way to ensure that the content they produce will render as intended on target devices. Variations in the level of support for html, style sheets, scripting, and image formats etc. make this hard to achieve. W3C's solution to this problem involves:
Document profiles are intended to formally describe which document features authors can safely use for given categories of browsers. This offers the means for automated checks as part of the content development process. The HTML working group is chartered to work on XHTML profiles and will work in coordination with the CC/PP working group, which is chartered to work on browser capabilities.
HTML Forms were introduced in 1993 and play an important role in the Web. The original design is now outdated and the HTML working group is chartered to work on an improved match to workflow and database applications. Forms are relevant to business and consumer applications. Our work is focusing on improved cross-platform support for handheld, television, and desktop browsers, plus printers and scanners, and the application of forms to controlling a wide range of devices.
The general development plan of the HTML Working Group is described in the following table. The dates show are actual (past) or projected (future) dates when each document enters the given phase in its process. Completion of that phase of subject to W3C procedures.
| Deliverable | 1st Public Draft | 2nd Draft | Last Call | Proposed Recommendation | Recommendation or Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XHTML 1.0 | 5 December 1998 | 24 February 1999 | 4 March 1999 5 May 1999 |
November 1999 | January 2000 |
| HTML 4.01 | 26 March 1999 | n/a | 28 June 1999 | 24 August 1999 | November 1999 |
| Building XHTML Modules | 23 July 1999 | n/a | December 1999 | February 2000 | April 2000 |
| XHTML Modularization | 31 March 1999 | 20 April 1999 | December 1999 | February 2000 | April 2000 |
| XHTML 1.1 | 31 March 1999 | 20 April 1999 | December 1999 | February 2000 | April 2000 |
| XHTML Basic | November 1999 | n/a | December 1999 | February 2000 | April 2000 |
| XHTML 2.0 | January 2000 | March 2000 | April 2000 | May 2000 | July 2000 |
| XHTML Profile Requirements | 30 July 1999 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| XHTML Profiles | December 1999 | March 2000 | August 2000 | October 2000 | December 2000 |
| Extended Forms Requirements | 30 July 1999 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Extended Forms Module | November 1999 | February 2000 | August 2000 | October 2000 | December 2000 |
| Extended Events Module | November 1999 | unknown | unknown | February 2000 | April 2000 |
| Investigate XHTML Modules as XML Schemas | February 2000 | unknown | unknown | unknown | unknown |
Each of these deliverables is described in the following sections.
Editor: Steven Pemberton, et. al.
XHTML 1.0 is a definition of traditional HTML 4.0 expressed in three XML DTDs. It also defines conformance requirements for XHTML 1.0 documents and user agents. Finally, it provides guidelines for developing XHTML 1.0 conforming content that will operate in today's HTML 4.0-conforming user agents.
This specification forms the basis for a family of document types and modules that will collectively be known as "XHTML". It is targeted at content developers who want to be forward looking and backward compatible, and also at user agent developers who want to start making the transition from SGML to XML.
Editor: Ian Jacobs, W3C et. al.
A revision to HTML 4.0 that incorporates all errata and makes substantive changes to the DTD to fix errors and omissions.
Editor: Shane McCarron, ApTest et. al.
Building XHTML Modules defines the mechanism used to define XHTML-compatible modules. This mechanism was used when defining the modules in XHTML Modularization. It will also be used by this and other working groups when defining other modules. Finally, this mechanism is suitable for use by organizations wishing to create XHTML Family document types made up of W3C and locally defined modules.
Editor: Shane McCarron, ApTest et. al.
XHTML Modularization defines a collection of abstract modules that can be grouped together and used as the basis for future document type definitions. It also defines a framework for defining additional abstract modules and their implementations via XML DTDs. Finally, it provides an implementation of these modules using XML DTDs, and then uses that implementation as components to reconstruct the XHTML 1.0 DTDs and some additional DTDs as examples.
This specification is targeted at client developers who wish to augment the basic definitions of XHTML with additional client-specific markup. It is also useful for content developers who wish to extend XHTML with document-specific markup. Finally, it is extremely useful for other standards groups (both within and outside of the W3C) who are designing new markup that should be combinable with XHTML.
Editor: Shane McCarron, ApTest et. al.
XHTML 1.1 is a forward-looking markup language built using modules defined in XHTML Modularization. This language will likely contain none of the transitional material from XHTML 1.0 (and from HTML 4.01). XHTML 1.1 will not necessarily be backward compatible with HTML 4.01-based user agents. Any incompatibilities will be clearly defined.
Editor: Peter Stark, Phone.com et. al.
No public draft yet available
XHTML Basic is a simplified yet forward-looking markup language built using modules defined in XHTML Modularization. It is intended for use as the basis of other markup languages targeted at thin clients, such as those being produced by the television and wireless communities.
Editor: Shane McCarron, ApTest et. al.
No public draft yet available
XHTML 2.0 is a next generation markup language. In this version, the functionality is expected to remain similar to (or a superset of) that of XHTML 1.1. However, the markup language may be altered semantically and syntacticly to conform to the requirements of related XML standards such as XML Linking and XML Schema. The objective of these changes is to ensure that XHTML 2.0 can be readily supported by XML browsers that have no arcane knowledge of HTML semantics such as linking, image maps, forms, etc. The development of XHTML 2.0 will likely require the development of new XHTML modules or revisions to existing XHTML modules.
Editor: Dave Raggett, W3C et. al.
No public draft yet available
This document describes the set of agreed upon requirements for an XHTML Profiling mechanism. These requirements are to be address by the XHTML Profiles document.
Editor: Dave Raggett, W3C et. al.
No public draft yet available
XHTML Profiles is a mechanism whereby clients can define their capabilities and documents can define their requirements. The profiling mechanism is expected to be used by sophisticated (proxy) servers to better tailor requested content to the destination device. This specification will define the profiling grammar, and potentially several client and document profiles as examples. It will also define the way in which clients and documents will make their profiles available.
This specification is targeted at client and sophisticated content developers (typical content developers will likely rely upon W3C-defined basic content profiles). It is also targeted at content translator/transcoder developers who need to do on-the-fly content negotiation.
Note that the dates give for this work item are based upon the assumption that the HTML Activity will be rechartered in March 2000.
Editor: Sebastian Schnitzenbaumer, Stack Overflow AG et. al.
This document defines the agreed upon requirements for an enhanced forms capability. These requirements will be addressed through the definition of an Extended Forms Module.
These requirements are targeted at client developers and content providers.
Editor: Sebastian Schnitzenbaumer, Stack Overflow AG et. al.
No public draft yet available
This specification defines an add-on module, via the XHTML Modularization framework, that provides extended functionality for client-side forms. These extensions include browser-context variables, multi-page forms, user agent state retention, and a variety of other features.
This specification is targeted at client developers and content providers.
Note that the dates give for this work item are based upon the assumption that the HTML Activity will be rechartered in March 2000.
Editor: Ted Wugofski, Gateway et. al.
No public draft yet available
This specification defines an add-on module, via the XHTML Modularization framework, that defines a new events model with functionality orthogonal to that provided by traditional intrinsic events. This module is intended to support the requirements of XHTML, SYMM, and other future XHTML-compatible modules that require events processing.
This specification is targeted at client developers and content providers.
Editor: Dave Raggett, W3C/HP and Henry Thompson, W3C/University of Edinburgh
No public draft yet available
This work will explore the reformulation of XHTML Modules using XML Schemas. The work will focus on representing the data types and content model in a more complete manner than was feasible with DTDs, as well as formalizing where XHTML can and cannot be extended. This work is likely to result in a W3C Note.
This specification is targeted at client developers and content providers.