Wednesday, August 11, 2010

HTML/XHTML Declaration

According to HTML standards, each HTML document requires a document type declaration. The "DOCTYPE" begins the HTML document and tells a validator which version of HTML to use in checking the document's syntax.
  • The doctype declaration should be the very first thing in an HTML document, before the <html> tag.
  • The doctype declaration is not an HTML tag; it is an instruction to the web browser about what version of the markup language the page is written in.
  • The doctype declaration refers to a Document Type Definition (DTD). The DTD specifies the rules for the markup language, so that the browsers can render the content correctly.
Document Type Definitions (DTD)
  • A DTD specifies the syntax of a web page in SGML(Standard Generalized Markup Language)
  • DTDs are used by SGML applications, such as HTML, to specify rules for documents of a particular type, including a set of elements and entity declarations
  • An XHTML DTD describes in precise, computer-readable language, the allowed syntax of XHTML markup
There are three DTDs:
  • STRICT : Use the strict DOCTYPE when you want really clean markup, free of presentational clutter. Use it together with CSS.
  • TRANSITIONAL : Use the transitional DOCTYPE when you want to still use HTML's presentational features.
  • FRAMESET : Use the frameset DOCTYPE when you want to use HTML frames.

Doctypes Available in the W3C Recommendations:
HTML 4.01 Strict
This DTD contains all HTML elements and attributes, but does NOT INCLUDE presentational or deprecated elements (like font). Framesets are not allowed.
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" 
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">

HTML 4.01 Transitional
This DTD contains all HTML elements and attributes, INCLUDING presentational and deprecated elements (like font). Framesets are not allowed.
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" 
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">

HTML 4.01 Frameset 
This DTD is equal to HTML 4.01 Transitional, but allows the use of frameset content.
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Frameset//EN" 
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/frameset.dtd">

XHTML 1.0 Strict
This DTD contains all HTML elements and attributes, but does NOT INCLUDE presentational or deprecated elements (like font). Framesets are not allowed. The markup must also be written as well-formed XML.
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" 
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">

XHTML 1.0 Transitional
This DTD contains all HTML elements and attributes, INCLUDING presentational and deprecated elements (like font). Framesets are not allowed. The markup must also be written as well-formed XML.
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" 
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

XHTML 1.0 Frameset
This DTD is equal to XHTML 1.0 Transitional, but allows the use of frameset content.
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Frameset//EN" 
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-frameset.dtd">

XHTML 1.1
This DTD is equal to XHTML 1.0 Strict, but allows you to add modules (for example to provide ruby support for East-Asian languages).
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" 
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">

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