XML Infoset

• An abstract description of the information available in a well-formed XML document
• The information in an XML document is described in terms of information items:
  • Document information item
  • Element information item
  • Attribute information items
  • Processing instruction information items
  • Character information items
  • Comment information items (peripheral)
  • A document type declaration information item if document has a DTD
  • Entity information items
  • Notation information items
  • Namespace declaration information items

Applications might provide these information sets directly, and not through a "real" XML document (eg, database management systems).