XMLNews.org
XMLNews-Story (1999-04-05) Technical Specification

David Megginson, david@megginson.com

$Date: 1999/04/05 01:06:04 $ $Revision: 1.8 $

Description
XMLNews-Story is a compatible subset of the News Industry Text Format (NITF-XML) DTD of 21 September 1998. Documentation and tutorial information, together with the latest version of the schema, are available from http://www.xml.org/.

1. Introduction

The most recent version of this document is always available through the XMLNews.org Web site.

This document is the technical specification for XMLNews-Story, an XML 1.0 document type for news and information. If you are looking for an introduction to XMLNews-Story, you should read the XMLNews-Story Tutorial first; afterwards, you can use this document as a reference guide to find out more about specific parts of the XMLNews-Story format. The XMLNews Technical Overview explains the overall design of the XMLNews specifications. There is also an XML Document Type Definition available.

XMLNews-Story is fully compatible with the News Industry Text Format (NITF) document type created by the International Press Telecommunications Council and the Newspaper Association of America.

This specification is designed to work together with XMLNews-Meta, which specifies the format for metadata records for news objects.

2. Elements

a, audio, audio.caption, audio.data, audio.producer, base, block, body, body.content, body.end, body.head, bq, br, byline, bytag, caption, chron, city, copyrite, copyrite.holder, copyrite.year, country, credit, datasource, dateline, dd, denom, distributor, dl, dt, em, event, frac, function, h1, h2, h3, h4, head, hedline, hl1, hl2, img, img.caption, img.data, img.producer, lang, lh, li, location, money, name.family, name.given, nitf, num, numer, object.title, ol, org, orgid, p, person, pre, pronounce, q, region, series, state, story.date, sub, sublocation, sup, table, tagline, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, title, tr, ul, video, video.caption, video.data, video.producer, virtloc

2.1. <a>: Hyperlink anchor

Description

The a element represents a hypertext link to another location:

<p>The new release will be available from the
<a href="http://www.javasoft.com/">JavaSoft web site</a> next
week.</p>

Model

(#PCDATA | chron | copyrite | event | function | location | money | num | object.title | org | person | virtloc | a | br | em | lang | pronounce | q)*

Attributes

href: Hypertext reference

The URL of the web page (or fragment) that should appear when the user actives the link. For printed text, the value of this attribute may appear as a footnote or in parenthese after the contents of the a element, or it may simple be ignored.

Type: CDATA

Default: #REQUIRED

Occurs In

The a element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

a, caption, credit, dt, h1, h2, h3, h4, hl1, hl2, lh, p, q, tagline, td, th

2.2. <audio>: Audio clip

Description

This element allows authors to include an audio clip in a news story:

<audio src="http://www.acme-news.com/clips/flood.ram" length="00:02:39">
<audio.caption>
 <caption><person>Ace Freelance</person> reports on the
 flooding.</caption>
</audio.caption>
<audio.producer>
 <byline>
  <bytag>ACME News</bytag>
 </byline>
</audio.producer>
<audio.data copyright="Copyright (c) 1998 by ACME News"/>
</audio>

Model

(audio.caption?, audio.producer?, audio.data)

Attributes

src: Source URL

The URL of the file containing the audio clip.

Type: CDATA

Default: #REQUIRED

length: Audio clip length

The playing time of the audio clip, in HH:MM:SS format.

Type: NMTOKEN

Default: #IMPLIED

Occurs In

The audio element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

block, td

2.3. <audio.caption>: Audio clip caption

Description

This element provides an optional caption for an audio clip. See audio for more information.

Model

(caption)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The audio.caption element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

audio

2.4. <audio.data>: Audio clip data

Description

This element uses its copyright attribute to provide a copyright statement for the audio clip.

Model

EMPTY

Attributes

copyright: Audio clip copyright

The copyright statement for the audio clip.

Type: CDATA

Default: #IMPLIED

Occurs In

The audio.data element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

audio

2.5. <audio.producer>: Audio clip producer

Description

This element provides optional information about the producer of an audio clip using one or more byline elements. See audio for more information.

Model

(byline)+

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The audio.producer element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

audio

2.6. <base>: Document base URL

Description

This optional element, which appears only in the document header, allows the author to specify a base URL for resolving relative links in the document (see the a element):

<head>
<title>News Highlights</title>
<base href="http://www.mynews.net/stories/"/>
<head>

This element is especially useful if a story is likely to be moved around, since relative links will always point back to the correct location.

Model

EMPTY

Attributes

href: Hyperlink reference

The base URL for resolving relative links in the document.

Type: CDATA

Default: #REQUIRED

Occurs In

The base element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

head

2.7. <block>: Information block

Description

This element marks up a separate block of information within a news story: the information may optionally have its own dateline and copyright information. This element is especially useful for including a series of short news summaries, tables, or multimedia information in a document:

<block>
<dateline>Toronto, Canada</dateline>
<audio src="http://www.acme-news.com/clips/snow.ram" length="00:02:39">
<audio.data copyright="Copyright (c) 1999 by ACME News"/>
</audio>
</block>

Model

(dateline?, copyrite?, (img | audio | video | p | ol | ul | dl | table | bq | pre)*, datasource?)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The block element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

body.content, bq, dd, li

2.8. <body>: Body of the news story

Description

The body element contains the main body of the news story, including all printable information. This element contains three parts:

  1. body.head for the headline, byline, dateline, and related information;
  2. body.content, for the main text of the news story; and
  3. body.end, for the tagline, if any.

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The body element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

nitf

2.9. <body.content>: Main content of a news story

Description

Within the body element, this element contains the main part of a news story, excluding the front and back matter.

Model

(p | ol | ul | dl | h1 | h2 | h3 | h4 | block)*

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The body.content element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

body

2.10. <body.end>: End information for a news story

Description

This element contains the optional tagline for a news story.

Model

(tagline)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The body.end element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

body

2.11. <body.head>: Printable header information for a news story

Description

This element contains printable header information for a news story, including the headline, byline, and dateline.

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The body.head element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

body

2.12. <bq>: Block quotation

Description

Authors may use this element to represent a block quotation (block quotations are often printed as separate, indented paragraphs):

<bq>
<block>
<p>More than any time in history mankind faces a crossroads. One path
leads to despair and utter hopelessness, the other to total
extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.</p>
</block>
<credit>Woody Allen</credit>
</bq>

Model

((h1 | h2 | h3 | h4 | block)+, credit?)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The bq element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

block

2.13. <br>: Line Break

Description

This empty element allows for hard-coded line breaks, as in HTML.

Model

EMPTY

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The br element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

a, caption, credit, dt, h1, h2, h3, h4, hl1, hl2, lh, p, q, tagline, td, th

2.14. <byline>: Story byline

Description

A news story may have one or more bylines, as may an audio clip, an image, or a video clip:

<byline>
<bytag>Steve Holland</bytag>
</byline>

Model

(bytag)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The byline element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

audio.producer, body.head, img.producer, video.producer

2.15. <bytag>: Tag in a byline.

Description

Each byline element contains exactly one bytag, which contains text naming the person or organisation receiving credit.

Model

(#PCDATA)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The bytag element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

byline

2.16. <caption>: Caption

Description

Authors may use the caption element to provide text describing a table, audio clip, image, or video clip:

<caption>NFL scores for Sunday, January 17 1999.</caption>

Model

(#PCDATA | chron | copyrite | event | function | location | money | num | object.title | org | person | virtloc | a | br | em | lang | pronounce | q)*

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The caption element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

audio.caption, img.caption, table, video.caption

2.17. <chron>: Date and time

Description

Authors may use this element inline to tag any words or phrases that refer to specific times:

<p><chron norm="19990107">Today</chron>, <person>Bill 
Clinton</person> spoke to reporters about the situation in 
Iraq.</p>

Model

(#PCDATA)

Attributes

norm: Normalised date and time

The value of this attribute contains the normalized date and time, if available. The first eight characters of the norm attribute's value represent the date in YYYYYMMDD format, followed optionally by the letter T and the 24-hour time in HHMM[SS] format, followed by Z for Universal (Greenwich) Time or a +/- offset for any other time.

For example, 9:00AM on December 25, 1999 in New York city would appear as 19991225T0900-0500 or as 19991225T1400Z.

This attribute allows the receiver to perform automatic conversions to local time.

Type: CDATA

Default: #IMPLIED

Occurs In

The chron element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

a, caption, credit, dt, h1, h2, h3, h4, hl1, hl2, lh, p, q, tagline, td, th

2.18. <city>: City

Description

Tag a municipality name within a location; for more information, see the city element.

Model

(#PCDATA)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The city element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

location

2.19. <copyrite>: Copyright statement

Description

Authors may use this element to tag an inline copyright statement:

<p><copyrite>Copyright <copyrite.year>1999</copyrite.year> by
<copyrite.holder>The Daily News</copyrite.holder>.  All rights
reserved.</copyrite></p>

Model

(#PCDATA | copyrite.year | copyrite.holder)*

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The copyrite element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

a, block, caption, credit, dt, h1, h2, h3, h4, hl1, hl2, lh, p, q, tagline, td, th

2.20. <copyrite.holder>: Copyright holder

Description

Tag the name of the copyright holder within a copyrite element.

Model

(#PCDATA)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The copyrite.holder element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

copyrite

2.21. <copyrite.year>: Copyright year

Description

Tag the year within a copyright element.

Model

(#PCDATA)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The copyrite.year element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

copyrite

2.22. <country>: Country name

Description

Tag the name of a sovereign country within a location element.

Model

(#PCDATA)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The country element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

location

2.23. <credit>: Quotation credit

Description

Authors may use this element to provide the optional credit for a quotation; see bq for an example.

Model

(#PCDATA | chron | copyrite | event | function | location | money | num | object.title | org | person | virtloc | a | br | em | lang | pronounce | q)*

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The credit element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

bq

2.24. <datasource>: Block data source

Description

Authors may use this element to specify the source of the information in a block element:

<block>
<h2>Clinton Prepares For Congress On Two Fronts</h2>
<p>The White House on Monday tried to quell momentum in the
U.S. Senate toward calling witnesses in President Clinton's
impeachment trial as the president stuck studiously to preparing for
his State of the Union speech.</p>
<datasource>Reuters</datasource>
</block>

This element is especially useful for a collection of news summaries from different sources.

Model

(#PCDATA)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The datasource element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

block

2.25. <dateline>: Dateline

Description

Provide a dateline for a news story or a block within a story:

<dateline>
<location><city>Bangkok</city></location>
<story.date>May 31, 1999</story.date>
</dateline>

Model

(location, story.date?)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The dateline element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

block, body.head

2.26. <dd>: Descriptive data

Description

Authors may use this element to provide a description or definition for part of a dl element:

<dd>
<block>
<p>The shortfall in a single budget.</p>
</block>
</dd>

Model

(block)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The dd element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

dl

2.27. <denom>: Denominator

Description

This element contains the denominator in a frac element.

Model

(#PCDATA)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The denom element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

frac

2.28. <distributor>: News distributor

Description

Authors may use this element to specify the primary distributor of the news story in the body.head element:

<distributor><org>Canadian Press</org></distributor>

Model

(#PCDATA | org)*

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The distributor element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

body.head

2.29. <dl>: Descriptive list

Description

The dl element encodes a descriptive list, such as a glossary, with an optional list header:

<dl>

<lh>Some economic terms:</lh>

<dt>deficit</dt>
<dd>
<block>
<p>The shortfall in a single budget.</p>
</block>
</dd>

<dt>debt</dt>
<dd>
<block>
<p>All of the money the country owes as a result of its accumulated
deficits.</p>
</block>
</dd>

</dl>

Model

(lh?, (dt?, dd)+)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The dl element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

block, body.content, td, th

2.30. <dt>: Description title

Description

Authors may use this element to tag the title, or glossary item in a dl element:

<dt>deficit</dt>

Model

(#PCDATA | chron | copyrite | event | function | location | money | num | object.title | org | person | virtloc | a | br | em | lang | pronounce | q)*

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The dt element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

dl

2.31. <em>: Emphasized phrase

Description

The em element tags an emphasized phrase inline:

<p><q>We will <em>certainly</em> see losses,</q> he said.</p>

Model

(#PCDATA)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The em element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

a, caption, credit, dt, h1, h2, h3, h4, hl1, hl2, lh, p, q, tagline, td, th

2.32. <event>: Event name

Description

This element marks the name of any sort of event:

<p>The tech sector is nervously watching the <event>Microsoft
trial</event>.</p>

Model

(#PCDATA)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The event element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

a, caption, credit, dt, h1, h2, h3, h4, hl1, hl2, lh, p, q, tagline, td, th

2.33. <frac>: Fraction

Description

The frac element contains a fraction within a num element:

<p>The stock opened at <num>51 <frac><numer>15</numer>
<denom>16</denom></frac></num></p>

Model

(numer, denom)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The frac element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

num

2.34. <function>: Person's function

Description

The function element allows authors to tag the job title, role, activity, or other function that a person performs:

<p>Mourners left flowers to pay their respects to
<person>Diana</person>, the <function>Princess of
Wales</function>.</p>

Model

(#PCDATA)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The function element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

a, caption, credit, dt, h1, h2, h3, h4, hl1, hl2, lh, p, person, q, tagline, td, th

2.35. <h1>: Level one heading

Description

The h1 element contains a level-one heading in the body of the text:

<h1>Stock Prices</h1>

Note that this is not the same as the headline; for a headline, see the hl1 element.

Model

(#PCDATA | chron | copyrite | event | function | location | money | num | object.title | org | person | virtloc | a | br | em | lang | pronounce | q)*

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The h1 element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

body.content, bq, td, th

2.36. <h2>: Level two heading

Description

The h2 element contains a level-two heading in the body of the text:

<h2>Tech Stocks</h2>

Note that this is not the same as a subheadline: for a subheadline, see the hl2 element.

Model

(#PCDATA | chron | copyrite | event | function | location | money | num | object.title | org | person | virtloc | a | br | em | lang | pronounce | q)*

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The h2 element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

body.content, bq, td, th

2.37. <h3>: Level three heading

Description

The h3 element contains a level-three heading in the body of the text:

<h3>Internet Stocks</h3>

Model

(#PCDATA | chron | copyrite | event | function | location | money | num | object.title | org | person | virtloc | a | br | em | lang | pronounce | q)*

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The h3 element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

body.content, bq, td, th

2.38. <h4>: Level four heading

Description

The h4 element contains a level-four heading in the body of the text:

<h4>Database Vendors</h4>

Model

(#PCDATA | chron | copyrite | event | function | location | money | num | object.title | org | person | virtloc | a | br | em | lang | pronounce | q)*

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The h4 element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

body.content, bq, td, th

2.39. <head>: Document header

Description

The head element contains the non-printable front section of a news story, which contains a plain-text title for the story, together with an optional base URL for resolving relative links:

<head>
<title>Internet Stocks Fall</title>
<base href="http://www.news-stories.net/"/>
</head>

The body.head element contains the printable frontmatter for the news story.

Model

(title, base?)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The head element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

nitf

2.40. <hedline>: Story headline group

Description

The hedline element contains the headline and (optionally) subheadlines of a news story:

<hedline>
<hl1>Snow, Freezing Rain Batter U.S. Northeast</hl1>
<hl2>Several deaths on roads</hl2>
</hedline>

Model

(hl1, hl2*)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The hedline element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

body.head

2.41. <hl1>: Story headline

Description

The hl1 element contains the main headline for a news story. See the hedline element for details.

Model

(#PCDATA | chron | copyrite | event | function | location | money | num | object.title | org | person | virtloc | a | br | em | lang | pronounce | q)*

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The hl1 element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

hedline

2.42. <hl2>: Story subheadline

Description

The hl2 element contains a subheadline for a news story. See hedline for more information.

Model

(#PCDATA | chron | copyrite | event | function | location | money | num | object.title | org | person | virtloc | a | br | em | lang | pronounce | q)*

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The hl2 element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

hedline

2.43. <img>: Image

Description

The img element contains an image (such as a diagram or photograph):

<img src="welcome.jpg">
<img.caption>
<caption>Welcome to our web site.</caption>
</img.caption>
<img.producer>
<byline>
<bytag>Produced by Web Designs Unlimited</bytag>
</byline>
</img.producer>
<img.data copyright="Produced by Web Designs Unlimited"/>
</img>

An img must always appear within a block or td element.

Attributes

src: Image source

The src attribute provides the URL for the file containing the image.

Type: CDATA

Default: #REQUIRED

width: Image width

The optional width attribute provides the width of the image in pixels.

Type: NMTOKEN

Default: #IMPLIED

height: Image height

The optional height attribute provides the height of the image in pixels.

Type: NMTOKEN

Default: #IMPLIED

Occurs In

The img element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

block, td

2.44. <img.caption>: Image caption

Description

The optional img.caption element contains the caption for an image. See img.

Model

(caption)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The img.caption element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

img

2.45. <img.data>: Image data

Description

The img.data element holds the copyright statement for an image in its copyright attribute. See img.

Model

EMPTY

Attributes

copyright: Copyright statement

The copyright attribute.

Type: CDATA

Default: #IMPLIED

Occurs In

The img.data element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

img

2.46. <img.producer>: Image producer

Description

The optional img.producer element provides a production credit for the image. See img for an example.

Model

(byline)+

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The img.producer element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

img

2.47. <lang>: Foreign language phrase

Description

The lang element marks a phrase in a language different from the main body text; the lang attribute allows you to identify the language of the phrase, if desired:

 
<p><person>Michael Jordan</person>, <function>le basketteur
vedette</function> aux six titres de champion <org>NBA</org> avec les
<org><lang lang="en">Chicago Bulls</lang></org>, a annoncé
officiellement <chron norm="19990113">mercredi</chron> sa retraite
sportive.</p>

This element is also useful for distinguishing different variants of the same language:

<p>The police found the money in the <lang lang="en-US">trunk</lang>,
or <lang lang="en-UK">boot</lang>.</p>

Model

(#PCDATA)

Attributes

lang: Language identifier

The lang attribute contains the ISO 639/RFC 1766 language code with an optional geographic identifier, such as en for English, or de-CH for Swiss German.

Type: NMTOKEN

Default: #IMPLIED

Occurs In

The lang element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

a, caption, credit, dt, h1, h2, h3, h4, hl1, hl2, lh, p, q, tagline, td, th

2.48. <lh>: List header

Description

The lh element contains an optional header for a list:

<ol>
<lh>EU Founding Members</lh>
<li>
 <block>
  <p>Belgium</p>
 </block>
</li>
<li>
 <block>
  <p>France</p>
 </block>
</li>
<li>
 <block>
  <p>Germany</p>
 </block>
</li>
<li>
 <block>
  <p>Italy</p>
 </block>
</li>
<li>
 <block>
  <p>Luxembourg</p>
 </block>
</li>
<li>
 <block>
  <p>Netherlands</p>
 </block>
</li>
</ol>

Model

(#PCDATA | chron | copyrite | event | function | location | money | num | object.title | org | person | virtloc | a | br | em | lang | pronounce | q)*

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The lh element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

dl, ol, ul

2.49. <li>: List item

Description

The li element represents a list item in an ordered list (ol) or unordered list (ul):

<li>
 <block>
  <p>Luxembourg</p>
 </block>
</li>

Model

(block)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The li element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

ol, ul

2.50. <location>: Location in story

Description

The location element tags a geographical location in the text. The element may contain plain text together with special sublocation, city, state (for a state, province, or other similar administrative district), region, and country subelements for more specific tagging (if desired):

<p>He spoke on the history of <location><region>Great Lakes
basin</region></location> at the <location><sublocation>Royal Ontario
Museum</sublocation> in <city>Toronto</city></location>.</p>

Model

(#PCDATA | sublocation | city | state | region | country)*

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The location element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

a, caption, credit, dateline, dt, h1, h2, h3, h4, hl1, hl2, lh, p, q, tagline, td, th

2.51. <money>: Monetary phrase

Description

Tag any monetary item. If desired, you may use the optional unit attribute to specify the currency, as in the following example:

<p>The property changed hands for <money
unit="USD">$549,000</money>.</p>

Model

(#PCDATA)

Attributes

unit: Unit of currency

The currency used for the monetary item, in ISO 4217 format (i.e. USD for American dollars or EUR for the Euro.

This attribute allows the receiver to perform automatic conversions to local currency.

Type: CDATA

Default: #IMPLIED

Occurs In

The money element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

a, caption, credit, dt, h1, h2, h3, h4, hl1, hl2, lh, p, q, tagline, td, th

2.52. <name.family>: Family name

Description

The name.family element contains the family name, or surname, or a person mentioned in a news story. See person for more information.

Model

(#PCDATA)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The name.family element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

person

2.53. <name.given>: Given name

Description

The name.given element contains the given name (or first name in North American and European usage) of a person mentioned in a news story. See person for more information.

Model

(#PCDATA)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The name.given element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

person

2.54. <nitf>: XMLNews-Story root element

Description

The nitf element is the root of every XMLNews-Story document: the first tag in every story must be the nitf start tag, and the last tag must be the nitf end tag.

Model

(head, body)

Attributes

baselang: Base language

This attribute provides the base language of the news story in ISO 639/RFC 1766 format; see lang for more information.

Type: CDATA

Default: #IMPLIED

change.date: Change date

This is a #FIXED attribute (it may not be modified) providing the change date of the DTD used.

The value for this attribute is specified in the DTD, and does not need to be provided in the document itself.

Type: CDATA

Default: #FIXED "$Date: 1999/04/05 01:06:04 $"

change.time: Change time

This is a #FIXED attribute (it may not be modified) providing the last time this version of the DTD was changed.

The value for this attribute is specified in the DTD, and does not need to be provided in the document itself.

Type: CDATA

Default: #FIXED "0000"

unr: Unique number

A unique identification string for the story.

Type: CDATA

Default: #IMPLIED

version: Version

This is a #FIXED attribute (it may not be modified) providing the version of the DTD used.

The value for this attribute is specified in the DTD, and does not need to be provided in the document itself.

Type: CDATA

Default: #FIXED "-//XMLNews//DTD XMLNEWS-STORY $Revision: 1.8 $//EN"

Occurs In

The nitf element is not allowed in any parent elements: it must be the root element of an XML document.


2.55. <num>: Numeric expression

Description

The num element tags a numeric expression in the text. This element is more useful for rendering than for searching: in particular, it allows the special subelements sup for representing superscripts, sub for representing subscripts, and frac (with numer and denom) for representing fractions:

<p>The stock opened at <num>51 <frac><numer>15</numer>
<denom>16</denom></frac></num></p>

Model

(#PCDATA | frac | sub | sup)*

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The num element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

a, caption, credit, dt, h1, h2, h3, h4, hl1, hl2, lh, p, q, tagline, td, th

2.56. <numer>: Numerator

Description

The numerator in a fraction; see frac for more information.

Model

(#PCDATA)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The numer element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

frac

2.57. <object.title>: Object title

Description

The object.title element tags the title of an object (such as a book, song, movie, etc.) in the text. This element allows only text as its content, so it is not possible to markup up titles within titles:

<p>Some analysts compared the recent events to the film
<object.title>Wag the Dog</object.title>.</p>

Model

(#PCDATA)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The object.title element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

a, caption, credit, dt, h1, h2, h3, h4, hl1, hl2, lh, p, q, tagline, td, th

2.58. <ol>: Ordered list

Description

The ol element contains an ordered list (see also ul:

<ol>
<lh>EU Founding Members</lh>
<li>
 <block>
  <p>Belgium</p>
 </block>
</li>
<li>
 <block>
  <p>France</p>
 </block>
</li>
<li>
 <block>
  <p>Germany</p>
 </block>
</li>
<li>
 <block>
  <p>Italy</p>
 </block>
</li>
<li>
 <block>
  <p>Luxembourg</p>
 </block>
</li>
<li>
 <block>
  <p>Netherlands</p>
 </block>
</li>
</ol>

Model

(lh?, li+)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The ol element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

block, body.content, td, th

2.59. <org>: Organization

Description

The org element tags the name of any organization, such as a government, department, ministry, corporation, charity, or club. In addition to plain text, this element may contain a special, empty orgid subelement that uses the idsrc and value attributes to provide a machine-readable identifier for the organization:

<p><org>Nortel Networks <orgid
idsrc="http://www.xmlnews.org/ns/orgids/tickers"
value="NYSE:NT"></org> saw its stock fall in the face of the Brazilian
devaluation.</p>

Model

(#PCDATA | orgid)*

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The org element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

a, caption, credit, distributor, dt, h1, h2, h3, h4, hl1, hl2, lh, p, q, tagline, td, th

2.60. <orgid>: Organization identifier

Description

The orgid element contains a unique identifier for an organization. See org for an example.

Model

EMPTY

Attributes

idsrc: Identifier source

The idsrc attribute identifies the source, or namespace, of the unique identifier. The value of this attribute should be a URI, such as http://www.myorg.net/tickers/nyse.

Type: CDATA

Default: #REQUIRED

value: Identifier value

The value attribute provides the unique identifier for an organization.

Type: CDATA

Default: #REQUIRED

Occurs In

The orgid element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

org

2.61. <p>: Paragraph

Description

The p element contains a regular paragraph of text:

<p>This is a paragraph.</p>

Model

(#PCDATA | chron | copyrite | event | function | location | money | num | object.title | org | person | virtloc | a | br | em | lang | pronounce | q)*

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The p element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

block, body.content, td, th

2.62. <person>: Person

Description

The person element tags the name of a human individual (real or imaginary) in the text:

<p><person>Santa Claus</person> is coming to town.</p>

In addition to plain text, person allows the special subelements name.given and name.family, in addition to the general inline element function, for more specific tagging if desired:

<p><person><function>Prime Minister</function>
<name.given>Tony</name.given>
<name.family>Blair</name.family></person> will meet with the other
<org>EU</org> leaders to discuss agricultural policy.</p>

Model

(#PCDATA | name.given | name.family | function)*

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The person element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

a, caption, credit, dt, h1, h2, h3, h4, hl1, hl2, lh, p, q, tagline, td, th

2.63. <pre>: Preformatted text

Description

The pre element contains preformatted text, which will have its spacing and lineation preserved and will always be rendered in a monospaced font. There are two main uses for preformatted text in a news story:

  1. to give sample source code or other similar examples; or
  2. to include tabulated information that has been padded with spaces.

To obtain better rendering and searching results, it is best to avoid the second situation and to use a proper table whenever possible.

<pre>
sub hello {
  print "Hello, world!\n";
}
</pre>

Model

(#PCDATA)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The pre element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

block

2.64. <pronounce>: Pronounciation

Description

The pronounce element contains the pronunciation of a word or phrase as a guide to someone reading the news story out loud:

<p>The cruise left from <location>Gananoque<location>
<pronounce phonetic="ga-na-NAH-kway"/> and proceded 
through the <location>Thousand Islands</location>.</p>

Model

EMPTY

Attributes

guide: Pronunciation guide

The guide attribute contains instructions on how to pronounce a word or phrase.

Type: CDATA

Default: #IMPLIED

phonetic: Phonetic spelling

The phonetic attribute provides an informal phonetic spelling for a word or phrase.

Type: CDATA

Default: #IMPLIED

Occurs In

The pronounce element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

a, caption, credit, dt, h1, h2, h3, h4, hl1, hl2, lh, p, q, tagline, td, th

2.65. <q>: Quoted phrase

Description

The q element contains a direct quotation (from HTML). You should use this element type instead of entering quotation marks directly:

<p><q>I'm ready to try again,</q> she said.</p>

The q element type may be nested for quotations within quotations:

<p><q>He yelled <q>Put up your hands!</q> and then pointed his gun at
me,</q> the victim told reporters.</p>

Model

(#PCDATA | chron | copyrite | event | function | location | money | num | object.title | org | person | virtloc | a | br | em | lang | pronounce | q)*

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The q element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

a, caption, credit, dt, h1, h2, h3, h4, hl1, hl2, lh, p, q, tagline, td, th

2.66. <region>: Geographical region

Description

The region element distinguishes a geographical region within a location element.

Model

(#PCDATA)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The region element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

location

2.67. <series>: Series

Description

The series element indicates that the news story is part of a larger series:

<series series.name="Investing for your future"
        series.part="3"
        series.totalpart="5"/>

This information could be rendered as Investing Your Future, Part 3 of 5.

Model

EMPTY

Attributes

series.name: Series name

The series.name attribute contains the name of the series in which the news story appears.

Type: CDATA

Default: #IMPLIED

series.part: Series part number

The series.part attribute contains the story's position in the series.

Type: NMTOKEN

Default: "0"

series.totalpart: Series total parts

The series.totalpart attribute contains the total number of parts in the story.

Type: NMTOKEN

Default: "0"

Occurs In

The series element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

body.head

2.68. <state>: Geographical state

Description

The state element tags a state, province, or other administrative region within a location element.

Model

(#PCDATA)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The state element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

location

2.69. <story.date>: Story date

Description

The story.date element provides the date of the story within a dateline.

Model

(#PCDATA)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The story.date element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

dateline

2.70. <sub>: Subscript phrase

Description

The sub element allows subscript text within a num element.

Model

(#PCDATA)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The sub element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

num

2.71. <sublocation>: Geographical sublocation

Description

The sublocation element tags a sublocation in a location element other than a city, region, or administrative district.

Model

(#PCDATA)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The sublocation element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

location

2.72. <sup>: Superscript phrase

Description

The sup element contains superscript text within a num element.

Model

(#PCDATA)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The sup element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

num

2.73. <table>: Table

Description

The table element contains tabular information within a block element:

<table>
<caption>North American Capitals</caption>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Country</th>
<th>Capital</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Mexico</td>
<td>Mexico City</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>United States</td>
<td>Washington</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Canada</td>
<td>Ottawa</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

Model

(caption?, thead?, tfoot?, tbody+)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The table element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

block

2.74. <tagline>: Story tag line

Description

This element contains the tag line for a news story, with an editorial or other comment:

<tagline>
<p>With contributions from our Taipei correspondent.</p>
</tagline>

Model

(#PCDATA | chron | copyrite | event | function | location | money | num | object.title | org | person | virtloc | a | br | em | lang | pronounce | q)*

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The tagline element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

body.end

2.75. <tbody>: Table body

Description

The tbody element contains the main body of the table. See table for an example.

Model

(tr+)

Attributes

align: Horizontal alignment

The align attribute contains the horizontal alignment of the contents of all the cells in the body (unless overridden by the align attribute on an individual row or cell).

Type: (left | center | right | justify)

Default: #IMPLIED

valign: Vertical alignment

The valign attribute contains the vertical alignment of the contents of all the cells in the body (unless overridden by the valign attribute on an individual row or cell).

Type: (top | middle | bottom | baseline)

Default: #IMPLIED

Occurs In

The tbody element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

table

2.76. <td>: Table data cell

Description

The td element contains a regular data cell in a table. See also th.

Model

(#PCDATA | chron | copyrite | event | function | location | money | num | object.title | org | person | virtloc | a | br | em | lang | pronounce | q | p | ol | ul | dl | h1 | h2 | h3 | h4 | img | audio | video)*

Attributes

rowspan: Rows spanned

The rowspan attribute contains the number of table rows spanned by the cell (1 by default).

Type: NMTOKEN

Default: "1"

colspan: Columns spanned

The colspan attribute contains the number of table columns spanned by the cell (1 by default).

Type: NMTOKEN

Default: "1"

align: Horizontal alignment

The align attribute contains the horizontal alignment of the contents of the cell, overriding any value given for the row or higher container.

Type: (left | center | right | justify)

Default: #IMPLIED

valign: Vertical alignment

The valign attribute contains the vertical alignment of the contents of the cell, overriding any value given for the row or a higher container.

Type: (top | middle | bottom | baseline)

Default: #IMPLIED

Occurs In

The td element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

tr

2.77. <tfoot>: Table footer

Description

The tfoot element contains the optional footer for a table. The footer contains rows that should be repeated at the bottom if a table is split over multiple pages.

Model

(tr+)

Attributes

align: Horizontal alignment

The align attribute provides a default horizontal alignment for the contents of the table cells in the footer; the value may be overridden by the individual cells or rows within the footer.

Type: (left | center | right | justify)

Default: #IMPLIED

valign: Vertical alignment

The valign attribute provides a default vertical alignment for the contents of the table cells in the footer; the value may be overridden by individual cells or rows within the footer.

Type: (top | middle | bottom | baseline)

Default: #IMPLIED

Occurs In

The tfoot element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

table

2.78. <th>: Table heading cell

Description

The th element represents a table cell that serves as a heading for a row or column. See also td.

Model

(#PCDATA | chron | copyrite | event | function | location | money | num | object.title | org | person | virtloc | a | br | em | lang | pronounce | q | p | ol | ul | dl | h1 | h2 | h3 | h4)*

Attributes

rowspan: Rows spanned

The rowspan attribute contains the number of table rows spanned by the cell (1 by default).

Type: NMTOKEN

Default: "1"

colspan: Columns spanned

The colspan attribute contains the number of table columns spanned by the cell (1 by default).

Type: NMTOKEN

Default: "1"

align: Horizontal alignment

The align attribute contains the horizontal alignment of the contents of the cell, overriding any value given for the row or higher container.

Type: (left | center | right | justify)

Default: #IMPLIED

valign: Vertical alignment

The valign attribute contains the vertical alignment of the contents of the cell, overriding any value given for the row or a higher container.

Type: (top | middle | bottom | baseline)

Default: #IMPLIED

Occurs In

The th element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

tr

2.79. <thead>: Table header

Description

The thead element contains the optional header for a table. The header contains rows that should be repeated at the top if a table is split over multiple pages.

Model

(tr+)

Attributes

align: Horizontal alignment

The align attribute provides a default horizontal alignment for the contents of the table cells in the header; the value may be overridden by the individual cells or rows within the header.

Type: (left | center | right | justify)

Default: #IMPLIED

valign: Vertical alignment

The valign attribute provides a default vertical alignment for the contents of the table cells in the header; the value may be overridden by individual cells or rows within the header.

Type: (top | middle | bottom | baseline)

Default: #IMPLIED

Occurs In

The thead element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

table

2.80. <title>: Document title

Description

The title element contains a plain text title for the document: the title is often related to the headline (see hedline), but may contain extra information such as a date or provider name. Typically, this title will be used for window titles, selection menus, et cetera:

<head>
<title>Tuesday: Snowstorm buries Midwest</title>
</head>

Model

(#PCDATA)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The title element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

head

2.81. <tr>: Table row

Description

The tr element contains a row of cells in a table:

<tr>
<th>Gold</th>
<td>+<num>1<frac><numer>3</numer><denom>8</denom></frac></num></td>
</tr>

Model

(th | td)+

Attributes

align: Horizontal alignment

The align attribute contains the horizontal alignment of the contents of all the cells in the row (unless overridden by the align attribute on an individual cell).

Type: (left | center | right | justify)

Default: #IMPLIED

valign: Vertical alignment

The valign attribute contains the vertical alignment of the contents of all the cells in the row (unless overridden by the valign attribute on an individual cell).

Type: (top | middle | bottom | baseline)

Default: #IMPLIED

Occurs In

The tr element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

tbody, tfoot, thead

2.82. <ul>: Unordered list

Description

The ul element contains an unordered list (see also ol:

<ul>
<lh>Investments</lh>
<li>
 <block>
  <p>Stocks</p>
 </block>
</li>
<li>
 <block>
  <p>Bonds</p>
 </block>
</li>
<li>
 <block>
  <p>Commodities</p>
 </block>
</li>
</ul>

Model

(lh?, li+)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The ul element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

block, body.content, td, th

2.83. <video>: Video clip

Description

The video element allows authors to include an video clip in a news story:

<video src="http://www.acme-news.com/clips/flood.mpg" length="00:02:39">
<video.caption>
 <caption><person>Ace Freelance</person> reports on the
 flooding.</caption>
</video.caption>
<video.producer>
 <byline>
  <bytag>ACME News</bytag>
 </byline>
</video.producer>
<video.data copyright="Copyright (c) 1998 by ACME News"/>
</video>

Attributes

src: Video source file

The src attribute provides the URL of the file containing the video clip.

Type: CDATA

Default: #REQUIRED

length: Video clip length

The length attribute provides the playing time of the video clip in HH:MM:SS format.

Type: NMTOKEN

Default: #IMPLIED

Occurs In

The video element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

block, td

2.84. <video.caption>: Video clip caption

Description

The video.caption element provides an optional caption for a video clip. See audio for an example.

Model

(caption)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The video.caption element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

video

2.85. <video.data>: Video clip data

Description

The video.data element uses its copyright attribute to provide a copyright statement for the video clip.

Model

EMPTY

Attributes

copyright: Audio clip copyright

The copyright statement for the audio clip.

Type: CDATA

Default: #IMPLIED

Occurs In

The video.data element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

video

2.86. <video.producer>: Video clip producer

Description

The video.producer element provides an optional producer credit for the video clip using one or more byline subelements. See video for an example.

Model

(byline)+

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The video.producer element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

video

2.87. <virtloc>: Virtual location

Description

The virtloc element tags a virtual location (such as a domain name, URL, or e-mail address) in the text:

<p>The White House encourages e-mail at
<virtloc>president@whitehouse.gov</virtloc>.</p>

Model

(#PCDATA)

Attributes

(None.)

Occurs In

The virtloc element is allowed in the following parent element(s):

a, caption, credit, dt, h1, h2, h3, h4, hl1, hl2, lh, p, q, tagline, td, th

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