Note

Date: Feb. 23, 2001
Link: http://www.w3.org/TR/xbl/
Source Author or Organization: America Online, Inc., Mozilla.org

This Note describes XML Binding Language (XBL), a markup language for binding elements together. It is submitted as a foundation for further work on Behavioral Extensions to CSS (BECSS), which would allow attachment of behaviors to elements via a transformation mechanism in Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). One example of a "behavior" is a simple rollover.

Either the Document Object Model (DOM) or CSS may be used to attach bindings to elements. An XBL binding can contain event handlers and implement new properties, behaviors or content. XBL combines ECMAScript, CSS, and XML wrapper and the DOM to add behavior and/or visual interface controls to HTML and XML documents. The specification includes proposals for extensions to the DOM and CSS.