M
- macro
-
A group of typesetting instructions that may be activated by reference to a name. One instruction replaces many, and may take a meaningful name. A feature of generic coding schemes. For example, a macro call named 'Title' will activate a macro definition of the same name (it may contain instructions to centre the following text, and compose it in 18pt Helvetica typeface). An equivalent feature, termed 'style-sheets', is found in some modern word processors and DTP systems.
- macro call
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A named reference to a macro definition.
- See also [macro]
- macro definition
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A collection of one or more markup tags given a name for use by a macro call in the data stream.
- See also [macro]
- many-to-many
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A term used to describe relationships between items in separate domains. Most frequently found describing records in separate tables of a relational database, where a many-to-many relationship, such as 'an author (possibly) writes many documents and a document is (possibly) written by many authors' would be normalized into a more manageable form by adding an intermediate table, with one-to-many relationships to the original two tables.
- See also [one-to-one]
- markup
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A tag added to electronic data to specify style (descriptive markup) or add structure (procedural markup or generalized markup) to the data. In XML, a document component is identified by an element{39}.
- markup declaration
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A special tag in XML that is not used to mark up a document, but is used for many other purposes, such as to build the document structure rules (the DTD), identify and locate each entity or define alternative document segments. Delimited by '<!' and '>' characters.
- See also [markupdecl{29}]
- Markup Declaration{29}
- See [markupdecl{29} The various markup declaration tags that define entities and construct a DTD.]
- markup delimiter
-
A character or characters that signify the start or end of markup embedded in the text. In XML, some markup delimiters are '<', '</', '>', '/>', '<?', '?>', '<!', '&', '%' and ';'. If these characters are required as data, they are represented by an entity reference such as '<' (less than, '<'). In SGML, they may be changed in a variant concrete syntax.
- markup language
-
A computer language that involves the use of pre-defined tags inserted into text. The tags either describe the meaning of the text (XML) or specify how to format the text for presentation
- See also [RTF (Rich Text Format)]
- See also [XHTML]
- See also [TROFF [Text Run OFF]]
- markup minimization
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A feature of SGML (and to some extent HTML) whereby some parts of a tag (or even the whole tag) can be safely omitted as its presence can be implied. XML does not have any minimization features.
- MathML
-
A standard from the W3C for encoding of mathematical formulae using XML markup, described using an XML DTD. As with earlier schemes, such as part of the ISO 12083 standard, some of the tags describe the formatting of a formula, but to this model is added another which describes the content of the formula logically, making it possible to compare formula when searching data. MathML is designed to be compatible with both ISO 12083 and TEX, to the extent that data can be automatically converted into MathML. Work began in 1994, and version 2 is now complete. See www.w3.org/TR/MathML2/.
- MCF (Meta-Content Framework)
A proposal for an XML-based standard to describe information about information (meta-data).See XML-Data
- See also [RDF (Resource Description Framework)]
- meta-data
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Data about data, existing only to identify or describe some 'genuine' information. In a book, the table of contents and index are types of meta-data. In a relational database, the primary key may only exist to link records in different tables. Online databases often have a 'keywords' field for finding appropriate records.
- meta-language
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A language for defining another language. XML is an example, using a DTD to define a bespoke markup language.
- MIME (Multi-purpose Independent Mail Extensions)
[pronounced 'mime'] A standard for identifying the formats in a mixed media mail or HTTP message, including pictures and text. HTML is a MIME format, as specified by the header line 'Content-Type: text/html'. JPEG is another, identified by 'content-Type: image/jpeg'. MIME is used by the Web to send information on the file content type. Contact 'comp.mail.mime' newsgroup.
- See also [RFC 1590]
- minimization
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In SGML and HTML, one or more techniques for omitting markup that can be implied from context. Not applicable to XML.
- Misc{27} (Miscellaneous)
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Non-hierarchically sensitive markup that may occur after the document element, and around the document type declaration (doctypedecl{28}). Any mixture of spaces (S{03}), Comment{15} and processing instructions (PI{16}).
- Mixed{51}
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The definition of the content of an element, when both sub-elements and document text are allowed, in any combination. The keyword '#PCDATA' identifies the allowed presence of text, and must appear first in the content model ('(#PCDATA | emph | quote)').
- mixed content
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A combination of text and elements. For example, a paragraph may contain text and Emphasis and Quote elements.
- See also [Mixed{51}]
- mod
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Used in an expression in XPath to get the remainder after dividing one number by another.
- mode
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In XSLT, different style rules may apply to the content of an element, depending on the context in which that content is presented. For example, the content of a Title element typically appears differently for its presentation at the top of a new chapter, compared to its appearance in a table of contents.
- model group
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A sequence or option group in an element declaration, possibly enclosing other model groups. Brackets enclose the group.
- monospaced
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A font that contains characters that are all the same width, which can be useful for illustrating typewriter or old computer output, or for lining up vertically aligned textual structures. Also termed 'fixed pitch'.
- Multi-purpose Independent Mail Extensions
- See [MIME (Multi-purpose Independent Mail Extensions)[pronounced 'mime'] A standard for identifying the formats in a mixed media mail or HTTP message, including pictures and text. HTML is a MIME format, as specified by the header line 'Content-Type: text/html'. JPEG is another, identified by 'content-Type: image/jpeg'. MIME is used by the Web to send information on the file content type. Contact 'comp.mail.mime' newsgroup.]
- multimedia
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The same as hypermedia, except that differing information types may be synchronized – for example, music accompanying a video clip, described by a scrolling caption.
- See also [HyTime (Hypermedia/Time-based Document Representation Language)]
- multiple namespace
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A document that contains elements from two or more namespaces.