This chapter is normative.
XForms have been designed for use within other XML vocabularies, in particular XHTML. This chapter discusses some of the high-level features of XForms that allow it to be used with other document types.
Note: This document uses the convention of an xfm:
prefix to represent elements and attributes that are part of the XForms Namespace.
The unique, persistent namespace identifier used in this document is http://www.w3.org/2000/12/xforms.
Future revisions are expected to use a different identifier.
The <xform> element is used as a container for other XForms
elements, namely, <model>, <instance>,
<submit> and <bind>. It can serve as a
convenient place to declare the XForms namespace. It has one optional attribute,
id of type xsd:ID.
The <model> element is used to define the XForms
Model. An optional id attribute of type xsd:ID
is allowed. An element href of type xsd:uriReference
is allowed, providing a link to an externally defined XForms
Model.
[Ed. We are actively investigating the potential of using XLink simple links within XForms.]
The content of the <model> element is restricted to either
XML Schema content, or XForms simple syntax. Schema content must be enclosed
in the <xsd:schema> element, defined in [XSchema-1].
Simple syntax must be enclosed in the <simple> element. The
content of <simple> is defined in the XForms
Model chapter.
[Ed. Need to define behavior if both an inline XForms Model and an external model are used together.]
The <instance> element is used to define initial instance
data. An optional id attribute of type xsd:ID
is allowed. An attribute href of type xsd:uriReference
is allowed, providing a link to externally defined instance
data. An attribute model of type xsd:IDREF connects
the instance data to a specific XForms
Model.
The content of the <instance> element is arbitrary XML in
any namespace. Authors must ensure that proper namespace declarations are used
for content within the <instance> element.
[Ed. We are also considering whether a schemaLocation attribute
is needed here.]
The <submit> element provides information on how and where
to submit the instance data. An optional
id attribute of type xsd:ID is allowed. A required
target attribute of type xsd:uriReference provides
the submit location. An optional method attribute of type xsd:string
provides the submit method. For HTTP, the default is POST.
The content of the <submit> element is empty.
The <bind> element is the connection between the different
parts of XForms. The syntax and contents of this element are defined in the
Binding chapter.
<xform xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/12/xforms"> <model id="Person-model" href="Schema-Questionaire.xfm" /> <instance model="Person-model" id="p0" href="URL-to-retrieve-defaults" /> ... </xform>
Alternatively, the instance data can be included in the containing document:
<xform xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/12/xforms"> <model id="Person-model" href="Schema-Questionaire.xfm" /> <instance model="Person-model" id="p0" xmlns="inst-ns"> <person> ... </person> </instance> ... </xform>