W3C Internationalization Tag Set: A Gentle Introduction

摘要

XML has many built-in capabilities to support the worldwide use of content. Proper use of these capabilities for the purpose of internationalization (i18n) and localization (110n), however, sometimes requires considerable expertise. This holds especially for developers of XML schemas, and producers of XML instances (such as authors or translators). The Internationalization Tag Set Working Group (ITS WG) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is working on a standard which makes it easier to create XML which is internationalized and can be localized effectively. The standard has two dimensions: On the one hand, the standard identifies concepts (such as "directionality") which are important for i18n and 110n. On the other hand, the standard defines implementations of these concepts (termed "ITS data categories") as a set of elements and attributes called the Internationalization Tag Set (ITS). This paper explains the ITS motivation/context and history, basic ideas and mechanisms. It provides information on how to use ITS with new as well as with existing XML-based content. Furthermore, the paper depicts some processing contexts (such as transformation for localization purposes) in which ITS can be used.