DOM

The Document Object Model is a very important Recommendation that identifies the structure of documents, and it is the basis for Web-based document processing. The activities of the W3C as related to the DOM can be found at

Document Object Model

http://www.w3.org/DOM/

The DOM is in a constant state of evolution, and the current incarnation is DOM Level 2. However, DOM Level 3 is currently in active development and promises new features as well.

DOM Level 1

The first release of the Document Object Model can be found at

Document Object Model (DOM) Level 1 Specification

http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-DOM-Level-1/

There are still software packages that only support DOM functionality at this level. DOM Level 1 provided the base functionality for XML.

DOM Level 2

The current set of Recommendations that comprise DOM Level 2 can be found at the following locations:

Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Core Specification

http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-2-Core/

Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Views Specification

http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-2-Views/

Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Events Specification

http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-2-Events/

Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Style Specification

http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-2-Style/

Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Traversal and Range Specification

http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-2-Traversal-Range/

These Recommendations define various aspects of the Document Object Model, including how documents are structured, displayed, parsed, and navigated.

DOM Level 3

The next phase of activity with the Document Object Model is represented by a number of Recommendations that collectively serve to describe DOM Level 3:

Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification

http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-3-Core/

Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Abstract Schemas and Load and Save Specification

http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-3-ASLS/

Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Events Specification

http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-3-Events/

Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 XPath Specification

http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-3-XPath/

These recommendations are still in the Working Draft phase; however, they do represent the future direction for the DOM.

SAX

In addition to the Document Object Model, the Simple API for XML provides an event-based model for parsing XML documents. Information about SAX can be found at

Simple API for XML

http://www.saxproject.org/

SAX is not a Recommendation of the W3C. However, because it is widely used by members of the XML development community, it is important to recognize SAX as an alternative to the DOM when parsing XML documents.