XLink Basic

XLink References

XLink Example

Let's try to learn some basic XLink syntax by looking at an example.

The XML Example Document

Look at the following XML document, "bookstore.xml", that represents a few books:

View the "bookstore.xml" file in your browser

In the example above the XLink namespace is declared at the top of the document (xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"). This means that the document has access to the XLink attributes and features.

The xlink:type="simple" creates a simple "HTML-like" link. You can also specify more complex links (multidirectional links), but for now, we will only use simple links.

The xlink:href attribute specifies the URL to link to, and the xlink:show attribute specifies where to open the link. xlink:show="new" means that the link (in this case, an image) should open in a new window.

XLink - Going Further

In the example above we have only demonstrated simple links. XLink is getting more interesting when we want to access remote locations as resources, instead of standalone pages. The <description> element in the example above sets the value of the xlink:show attribute to "new". This means that the link should open in a new window. We could have set the value of the xlink:show attribute to "embed". This means that the resource should be processed inline within the page. When you consider that this could be another XML document and not just an image, you could, for example, build a hierarchy of XML documents.

With XLink, you can also specify WHEN the resource should appear. This is handled by the xlink:actuate attribute. xlink:actuate="onLoad" specifies that the resource should be loaded and shown when the document loads. However, xlink:actuate="onRequest" means that the resource is not read or shown before the link is clicked. This is very handy for low-bandwidth settings.

W3Schools' Online Certification

The perfect solution for professionals who need to balance work, family, and career building.

More than 10 000 certificates already issued!

Get Your Certificate »

The HTML Certificate documents your knowledge of HTML.

The CSS Certificate documents your knowledge of advanced CSS.

The JavaScript Certificate documents your knowledge of JavaScript and HTML DOM.

The jQuery Certificate documents your knowledge of jQuery.

The XML Certificate documents your knowledge of XML, XML DOM and XSLT.

The ASP Certificate documents your knowledge of ASP, SQL, and ADO.

The PHP Certificate documents your knowledge of PHP and SQL (MySQL).