XML Binding Language (XBL, sometimes also called Extensible Bindings Language) is a language for describing bindings that can be attached to elements in other documents. The element that the binding is attached to, called the bound element, acquires the new behavior specified by the binding.
Bindings can contain event handlers that are registered on the bound element, an implementation of new methods and properties that become accessible from the bound element, and anonymous content that is inserted underneath the bound element.
Most XUL widgets are at least partially implemented using XBL. You can build your own reusable widgets from existing XUL, HTML, SVG, and other primitives using XBL.
Specifications
- XBL 1.0 is specified in XBL 1.0 Reference. Unfortunately, the actual implementation in Mozilla is different from the specification, and there's no known document available describing the differences. Hopefully, the Reference will be updated to describe those differences.
XBL 1.0 is a Mozilla-specific technology, and not a W3C standard. At least two standards spawned from it have died: sXBL and XBL 2.0.
Warning! sXBL and XBL 2.0 have died.
- W3C sXBL (currently a working draft, 2005) stands for SVG's XML Binding Language. It is supposed to include a subset of XBL 2.0 features needed for SVG. It's similar in spirit to Mozilla's XBL, but there are a few subtle (and not-so-subtle) differences. For example, names of the elements are different. Also sXBL lacks some features of XBL, such as bindings inheritance and defining methods/properties on bound elements.
- XBL 2.0 (W3C Candidate Recommendation) is being developed to address problems found in XBL 1.0 and to allow for implementations in a broader range of Web browsers. Mozilla plans to implement XBL2 in future versions of Gecko with initial stages started in June 2009.
Some differences between sXBL and XBL2 are listed in an article by Anne van Kesteren (November, 2005).
An overview of differences between Mozilla XBL and XBL2 is in a newsgroup posting by Jonas Sicking (April, 2007).
Still living "Shadow DOM" related specs
See also
- Introduction to XBL from the XUL Tutorial.
- Custom XUL Elements with XBL [en-US] from the XUL School Tutorial [en-US] for add-on developers
- XBL chapter of "Rapid Application Development with Mozilla"
- XBL 2.0 Primer (draft)
- XBL 2.0 Cross-browser implementation in JavaScript
Community
- View Mozilla forums...