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Comment on the "XDNL" submission

W3C is pleased to receive the XDNL submission from NEC Corporation.

The XML Document Navigation Language (XDNL) is a language, written in XML, for splitting up a document into several subdocuments and linking the subdocuments so that the users can navigate among them. XNDL focuses on the problem of designing and delivering Web contents which can be accessed from both PCs as well as non-PC devices, with document sizes appropriate to the target device.

XDNL has a lot of similarities with XSLT, and mostly uses the syntax of XSLT and XPath. There are three main features found in XDNL that are not available in XSLT:

1. To generate multiple output documents from a single input document (similar to an XSLT extension in XT)
2. To limit the size of each generated document by text size or by the number of elements copied. This is especially useful for creating documents for devices which have a small memory.
3. To easily create conditional links, e.g. to avoid creating a link to the 'previous' document in the first document of a sequence.

The submitters note that document reorganization ('navigation') and styling should be separated, and that therefore a separate language for navigation should be developed. The similarities of XDNL and XSLT, and the frequent use of XSLT for transformations not related to styling, suggest that it may as well be possible to use one and the same language in a two-step process.

For handling the diversity of various Web browsers, the HTML Working Group is currently developing a modularized version of XHTML (Modularized XHTML). Using document profiles and CC/PP device capability negotiation, the same document can be viewed from various devices including PCs, mobile phones, PDAs and TVs. In this respect, modularized XHTML and XDNL address different parts of the same problem. Modularized XHTML addresses the problem of HTML documents themselves which can be viewed by various devices, whereas XDNL addresses the problem of how to generate such documents.

Next Steps

The XSL Working Group is invited to investigate whether and how the ideas presented in the XDNL submission can be integrated into a potential next version of XSLT or can be made available as extensions.

The HTML Working Group, the CC/PP Working Group, and the Mobile Access Interest Group are invited to comment on the XDNL submission from their viewpoints.

The public is invited to comment on the XDNL submission on the www-mobile mailing list.

Disclaimer: Placing a Submission on a Working Group/Interest Group agenda does not imply endorsement by either the W3C Staff or the participants of the Working Group/Interest Group, nor does it guarantee that the Working Group/Interest Group will agree to take any specific action on a Submission.