# Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL)
Version 1.0

## W3C Candidate Recommendation 21 November 2000

This version:
  http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/CR-xsl-20001121/
  ( PDF by RenderX, XML file, HTML (one large file), ZIP file )
Latest version:
  http://www.w3.org/TR/xsl/
Previous version:
  http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/WD-xsl-20001018
Authors and Contributors:
  Sharon Adler (IBM) <sca@us.ibm.com>
  Anders Berglund (IBM) <alrb@us.ibm.com>
  Jeff Caruso (Pageflex) <jcaruso@pageflexinc.com>
  Stephen Deach (Adobe) <sdeach@adobe.com>
  Paul Grosso (ArborText) <paul@arbortext.com>
  Eduardo Gutentag (Sun) <eduardo.gutentag@eng.sun.com>
  Alex Milowski (Lexica) <alex@milowski.com>
  Scott Parnell (Xerox) <Scott.Parnell@usa.xerox.com>
  Jeremy Richman (BroadVision) <Jeremy.Richman@BroadVision.com>
  Steve Zilles (Adobe) <szilles@adobe.com>

Copyright© 2000 W3C® (MIT, INRIA, Keio), All Rights Reserved. W3C liability, trademark, document use and software licensing rules apply.

## Abstract

XSL is a language for expressing stylesheets. It consists of two parts:

1. a language for transforming XML documents, and

2. an XML vocabulary for specifying formatting semantics.

An XSL stylesheet specifies the presentation of a class of XML documents by describing how an instance of the class is transformed into an XML document that uses the formatting vocabulary.

## Status of this document

This document is a W3C Candidate Recommendation. The XSL WG considers this specification to be stable and encourges implementation and comment during the CR review period. The Candidate Recommendation review period ends on February 28, 2001.

Please send detailed comments and reports of implementation experience to xsl-editors@w3.org before the end of the CR review period. Archives of the comments are available. More general public discussion of XSL takes place on the XSL-List mailing list.

Should this specification prove impossible to implement, the Working Group will return the document to Working Draft status and make necessary changes. Otherwise, the Working Group anticipates asking the W3C Director to advance this document to Proposed Recommendation.

This document has been produced as part of the W3C Style Activity by the XSL Working Group (members only).

A list of current W3C working drafts can be found at http://www.w3.org/TR. They may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use W3C Candidate Recommendations as reference material or to cite them as other than "work in progress".

## Table of contents

1 Introduction and Overview
1.1 Processing a Stylesheet
1.1.1 Tree Transformations
1.1.2 Formatting
1.2 Benefits of XSL
1.2.1 Paging and Scrolling
1.2.2 Selectors and Tree Construction
1.2.3 An Extended Page Layout Model
1.2.4 A Comprehensive Area Model
1.2.5 Internationalization and Writing-Modes
1.2.6 Linking
2 Introduction to XSL Transformation
2.1 Tree Construction
2.2 XSL Namespace
3 Introduction to Formatting
3.1 Conceptual Procedure
4 Area Model
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Rectangular Areas
4.2.1 Area Types
4.2.2 Common Traits
4.2.3 Geometric Definitions
4.2.4 Tree Ordering
4.2.5 Stacking Constraints
4.2.6 Font Baseline Tables
4.3 Spaces and Conditionality
4.3.1 Space-resolution Rules
4.4 Block-areas
4.4.1 Stacked Block-areas
4.4.2 Intrusion Adjustments
4.5 Line-areas
4.6 Inline-areas
4.6.1 Stacked Inline-areas
4.6.2 Glyph-areas
4.7 Ordering Constraints
4.7.1 General Ordering Constraints
4.7.2 Line-building
4.7.3 Inline-building
4.8 Keeps and Breaks
4.9 Rendering Model
4.9.1 Geometry
4.9.2 Viewport Geometry
4.9.3 Visibility
4.9.4 Border, Padding, and Background
4.9.5 Intrinsic Marks
4.9.6 Layering and Conflict of Marks
4.10 Sample Area Tree
5 Property Refinement / Resolution
5.1 Specified, Computed, and Actual Values, and Inheritance
5.1.1 Specified Values
5.1.2 Computed Values
5.1.3 Actual Values
5.1.4 Inheritance
5.2 Shorthand Expansion
5.3 Computing the Values of Corresponding Properties
5.3.1 Border and Padding Properties
5.3.2 Margin, Space, and Indent Properties
5.3.3 Height, and Width Properties
5.3.4 Overconstrained Geometry
5.4 Simple Property to Trait Mapping
5.4.1 Background-position-horizontal and background-position-vertical Properties
5.4.2 Column-number Property
5.4.3 Text-align Property
5.4.4 Text-align-last Property
5.4.5 z-index Property
5.5 Complex Property to Trait Mapping
5.5.1 Word-spacing and Letter-spacing Properties
5.5.2 Reference-orientation Property
5.5.3 Writing-mode and Direction Properties
5.5.4 Absolute-position Property
5.5.5 Relative-position Property
5.5.6 Text-decoration Property
5.5.7 Font Properties
5.6 Non-property Based Trait Generation
5.7 Property Based Transformations
5.7.1 Text-transform Property
5.8 Unicode Bidi Processing
5.9 Expressions
5.9.1 Property Context
5.9.2 Evaluation Order
5.9.3 Basics
5.9.4 Function Calls
5.9.5 Numerics
5.9.6 Absolute Numerics
5.9.7 Relative Numerics
5.9.8 Strings
5.9.9 Colors
5.9.10 Keywords
5.9.11 Lexical Structure
5.9.12 Expression Value Conversions
5.9.13 Definitions of Units of Measure
5.10 Core Function Library
5.10.1 Number Functions
5.10.2 Color Functions
5.10.3 Font Functions
5.10.4 Property Value Functions
5.11 Property Datatypes
6 Formatting Objects
6.1 Introduction to Formatting Objects
6.1.1 Definitions Common to Many Formatting Objects
6.2 Formatting Object Content
6.3 Formatting Objects Summary
6.4 Declarations and Pagination and Layout Formatting Objects
6.4.1 Introduction
6.4.2 fo:root
6.4.3 fo:declarations
6.4.4 fo:color-profile
6.4.5 fo:page-sequence
6.4.6 fo:layout-master-set
6.4.7 fo:page-sequence-master
6.4.8 fo:single-page-master-reference
6.4.9 fo:repeatable-page-master-reference
6.4.10 fo:repeatable-page-master-alternatives
6.4.11 fo:conditional-page-master-reference
6.4.12 fo:simple-page-master
6.4.13 fo:region-body
6.4.14 fo:region-before
6.4.15 fo:region-after
6.4.16 fo:region-start
6.4.17 fo:region-end
6.4.18 fo:flow
6.4.19 fo:static-content
6.4.20 fo:title
6.5 Block-level Formatting Objects
6.5.1 Introduction
6.5.2 fo:block
6.5.3 fo:block-container
6.6 Inline-level Formatting Objects
6.6.1 Introduction
6.6.2 fo:bidi-override
6.6.3 fo:character
6.6.4 fo:initial-property-set
6.6.5 fo:external-graphic
6.6.6 fo:instream-foreign-object
6.6.7 fo:inline
6.6.8 fo:inline-container
6.6.9 fo:leader
6.6.10 fo:page-number
6.6.11 fo:page-number-citation
6.7 Formatting Objects for Tables
6.7.1 Introduction
6.7.2 fo:table-and-caption
6.7.3 fo:table
6.7.4 fo:table-column
6.7.5 fo:table-caption
6.7.6 fo:table-header
6.7.7 fo:table-footer
6.7.8 fo:table-body
6.7.9 fo:table-row
6.7.10 fo:table-cell
6.8 Formatting Objects for Lists
6.8.1 Introduction
6.8.2 fo:list-block
6.8.3 fo:list-item
6.8.4 fo:list-item-body
6.8.5 fo:list-item-label
6.9 Dynamic Effects: Link and Multi Formatting Objects
6.9.1 Introduction
6.9.2 fo:basic-link
6.9.3 fo:multi-switch
6.9.4 fo:multi-case
6.9.5 fo:multi-toggle
6.9.6 fo:multi-properties
6.9.7 fo:multi-property-set
6.10 Out-of-Line Formatting Objects
6.10.1 Introduction
6.10.2 fo:float
6.10.3 fo:footnote
6.10.4 fo:footnote-body
6.11 Other Formatting Objects
6.11.1 Introduction
6.11.2 fo:wrapper
6.11.3 fo:marker
6.11.4 fo:retrieve-marker
7 Formatting Properties
7.1 Description of Property Groups
7.2 XSL Areas and the CSS Box Model
7.3 Common Accessibility Properties
7.3.1 source-document
7.3.2 role
7.4 Common Absolute Position Properties
7.4.1 absolute-position
7.4.2 top
7.4.3 right
7.4.4 bottom
7.4.5 left
7.5 Common Aural Properties
7.5.1 azimuth
7.5.2 cue-after
7.5.3 cue-before
7.5.4 elevation
7.5.5 pause-after
7.5.6 pause-before
7.5.7 pitch
7.5.8 pitch-range
7.5.9 play-during
7.5.10 richness
7.5.11 speak
7.5.12 speak-header
7.5.13 speak-numeral
7.5.14 speak-punctuation
7.5.15 speech-rate
7.5.16 stress
7.5.17 voice-family
7.5.18 volume
7.6 Common Border, Padding, and Background Properties
7.6.1 background-attachment
7.6.2 background-color
7.6.3 background-image
7.6.4 background-repeat
7.6.5 background-position-horizontal
7.6.6 background-position-vertical
7.6.7 border-before-color
7.6.8 border-before-style
7.6.9 border-before-width
7.6.10 border-after-color
7.6.11 border-after-style
7.6.12 border-after-width
7.6.13 border-start-color
7.6.14 border-start-style
7.6.15 border-start-width
7.6.16 border-end-color
7.6.17 border-end-style
7.6.18 border-end-width
7.6.19 border-top-color
7.6.20 border-top-style
7.6.21 border-top-width
7.6.22 border-bottom-color
7.6.23 border-bottom-style
7.6.24 border-bottom-width
7.6.25 border-left-color
7.6.26 border-left-style
7.6.27 border-left-width
7.6.28 border-right-color
7.6.29 border-right-style
7.6.30 border-right-width
7.6.31 padding-before
7.6.32 padding-after
7.6.33 padding-start
7.6.34 padding-end
7.6.35 padding-top
7.6.36 padding-bottom
7.6.37 padding-left
7.6.38 padding-right
7.7 Common Font Properties
7.7.1 Fonts and Font Data
7.7.2 font-family
7.7.3 font-selection-strategy
7.7.4 font-size
7.7.5 font-stretch
7.7.6 font-size-adjust
7.7.7 font-style
7.7.8 font-variant
7.7.9 font-weight
7.8 Common Hyphenation Properties
7.8.1 country
7.8.2 language
7.8.3 script
7.8.4 hyphenate
7.8.5 hyphenation-character
7.8.6 hyphenation-push-character-count
7.8.7 hyphenation-remain-character-count
7.9 Common Margin Properties-Block
7.9.1 margin-top
7.9.2 margin-bottom
7.9.3 margin-left
7.9.4 margin-right
7.9.5 space-before
7.9.6 space-after
7.9.7 start-indent
7.9.8 end-indent
7.10 Common Margin Properties-Inline
7.10.1 space-end
7.10.2 space-start
7.11 Common Relative Position Properties
7.11.1 relative-position
7.12 Area Alignment Properties
7.12.1 alignment-adjust
7.12.2 alignment-baseline
7.12.3 baseline-shift
7.12.4 display-align
7.12.5 dominant-baseline
7.12.6 relative-align
7.13 Area Dimension Properties
7.13.1 block-progression-dimension
7.13.2 content-height
7.13.3 content-width
7.13.4 height
7.13.5 inline-progression-dimension
7.13.6 max-height
7.13.7 max-width
7.13.8 min-height
7.13.9 min-width
7.13.10 scaling
7.13.11 scaling-method
7.13.12 width
7.14 Block and Line-related Properties
7.14.1 hyphenation-keep
7.14.2 hyphenation-ladder-count
7.14.3 last-line-end-indent
7.14.4 line-height
7.14.5 line-height-shift-adjustment
7.14.6 line-stacking-strategy
7.14.7 linefeed-treatment
7.14.8 space-treatment
7.14.9 text-align
7.14.10 text-align-last
7.14.11 text-indent
7.14.12 white-space-collapse
7.14.13 wrap-option
7.15 Character Properties
7.15.1 character
7.15.2 letter-spacing
7.15.3 suppress-at-line-break
7.15.4 text-decoration
7.15.5 text-shadow
7.15.6 text-transform
7.15.7 treat-as-word-space
7.15.8 word-spacing
7.16 Color-related Properties
7.16.1 color
7.16.2 color-profile-name
7.16.3 rendering-intent
7.17 Float-related Properties
7.17.1 clear
7.17.2 float
7.18 Keeps and Breaks Properties
7.18.1 break-after
7.18.2 break-before
7.18.3 keep-together
7.18.4 keep-with-next
7.18.5 keep-with-previous
7.18.6 orphans
7.18.7 widows
7.19 Layout-related Properties
7.19.1 clip
7.19.2 overflow
7.19.3 reference-orientation
7.19.4 span
7.20 Leader and Rule Properties
7.20.1 leader-alignment
7.20.2 leader-pattern
7.20.3 leader-pattern-width
7.20.4 leader-length
7.20.5 rule-style
7.20.6 rule-thickness
7.21 Properties for Dynamic Effects Formatting Objects
7.21.1 active-state
7.21.2 auto-restore
7.21.3 case-name
7.21.4 case-title
7.21.5 destination-placement-offset
7.21.6 external-destination
7.21.7 indicate-destination
7.21.8 internal-destination
7.21.9 show-destination
7.21.10 starting-state
7.21.11 switch-to
7.21.12 target-presentation-context
7.21.13 target-processing-context
7.21.14 target-stylesheet
7.22 Properties for Markers
7.22.1 marker-class-name
7.22.2 retrieve-class-name
7.22.3 retrieve-position
7.22.4 retrieve-boundary
7.23 Properties for Number to String Conversion
7.23.1 format
7.23.2 grouping-separator
7.23.3 grouping-size
7.23.4 letter-value
7.24 Pagination and Layout Properties
7.24.1 blank-or-not-blank
7.24.2 column-count
7.24.3 column-gap
7.24.4 extent
7.24.5 flow-name
7.24.6 force-page-count
7.24.7 initial-page-number
7.24.8 master-name
7.24.9 maximum-repeats
7.24.10 media-usage
7.24.11 odd-or-even
7.24.12 page-height
7.24.13 page-position
7.24.14 page-width
7.24.15 precedence
7.24.16 region-name
7.25 Table Properties
7.25.1 border-after-precedence
7.25.2 border-before-precedence
7.25.3 border-collapse
7.25.4 border-end-precedence
7.25.5 border-separation
7.25.6 border-start-precedence
7.25.7 caption-side
7.25.8 column-number
7.25.9 column-width
7.25.10 empty-cells
7.25.11 ends-row
7.25.12 number-columns-repeated
7.25.13 number-columns-spanned
7.25.14 number-rows-spanned
7.25.15 starts-row
7.25.16 table-layout
7.25.17 table-omit-footer-at-break
7.25.18 table-omit-header-at-break
7.26 Writing-mode-related Properties
7.26.1 direction
7.26.2 glyph-orientation-horizontal
7.26.3 glyph-orientation-vertical
7.26.4 text-altitude
7.26.5 text-depth
7.26.6 unicode-bidi
7.26.7 writing-mode
7.27 Miscellaneous Properties
7.27.1 content-type
7.27.2 id
7.27.3 provisional-label-separation
7.27.4 provisional-distance-between-starts
7.27.5 ref-id
7.27.6 score-spaces
7.27.7 src
7.27.8 visibility
7.27.9 z-index
7.28 Shorthand Properties
7.28.1 background
7.28.2 background-position
7.28.3 border
7.28.4 border-bottom
7.28.5 border-color
7.28.6 border-left
7.28.7 border-right
7.28.8 border-style
7.28.9 border-spacing
7.28.10 border-top
7.28.11 border-width
7.28.12 cue
7.28.13 font
7.28.14 margin
7.28.15 padding
7.28.16 page-break-after
7.28.17 page-break-before
7.28.18 page-break-inside
7.28.19 pause
7.28.20 position
7.28.21 size
7.28.22 vertical-align
7.28.23 white-space
7.28.24 xml:lang
8 Conformance

### Appendices

A Internationalization
A.1 Additional writing-mode values
B Formatting Object Summary
B.1 Declaration and Pagination and Layout Formatting Objects
B.2 Block Formatting Objects
B.3 Inline Formatting Objects
B.4 Table Formatting Objects
B.5 List Formatting Objects
B.6 Link and Multi Formatting Objects
B.7 Out-of-line Formatting Objects
B.8 Other Formatting Objects
C Property Summary
C.1 Explanation of Trait Mapping Values
C.2 Property Table: Part I
C.3 Property Table: Part II
D References
D.1 Normative References
D.2 Other References
E Property Index
F Acknowledgements (Non-Normative)