HyperText Markup Language (html)
--------------------------------

Charter
Last Modified: 06/05/2000

Current Status: Concluded Working Group

Chair(s):
    Eric Sink  <[email protected]>

Applications Area Director(s):
    Ned Freed  <[email protected]>
    Patrik Faltstrom  <[email protected]>

Applications Area Advisor:
    Ned Freed  <[email protected]>

Mailing Lists:
    General Discussion:[email protected]
    To Subscribe:      [email protected]
        In Body:       subscribe html-wg <your name>
    Archive:           http://www.ics.uci.edu/pub/ietf/html/

Description of Working Group:

Note on Mailing Lists

 General discussion about HTML is normally carried out on the
`www-html'
 list, which should be used for anything which is not the work of this
 group.

  Address:  [email protected]

  To subscribe:  [email protected]

  Archive:
http://gummo.stanford.edu/html/hypermail/www-html-1994q2.index.html


Description

 The HTML Working Group is chartered firstly to describe, and secondly
to
 develop, the HyperText Markup Language (HTML).  The group's work is to
be
 based on existing practice on the Internet, and will make due
reference
 to the SGML standard.

 The group will build upon a working specification originally written
by
 Tim Berners-Lee, much work done by Dan Connolly in editing and
testing,
 the recent editing of Karen Muldrow, and the HTMLPlus specification
 edited by Dave Raggett.  The working group takes over the work of the
 informal HTML Implementors Group which met at the WWW94 conference in
 Geneva, the HTML workshop at that conference, and an informal meeting
and
 an IETF BOF in Toronto in July 94.

 The HTML standard will provide a format for hypertext files of wide
 applicability, and particularly as a mandatory common format for all
 WorldWide Web applications.

 The standard will specify the relationships between HTML and other
 standards and practices such as URIs, HTTP, MIME and SGML.

Focus

 The working group will have a strong focus to:

   o Describe existing features before developing new features

   o Base specification on existing practice

   o Express the relationship of HTML to URIs, MIME, SGML, HyTime and
     HTTP

   o Define conformance levels

   o Define transition possibilities and compatibilities between
     versions and levels

 The working group will work in two stages.

 Descriptive specification

   The first priority will be to complete the specfication of existing
   practice on the Internet, defining it in terms which make
development
   of new features as straightforward as possible.  This specification
   will cover HTML up to that which has been called level 2 (i.e.,
   including basic features, highlighting, images and forms).  During
this
   period discussion of new features should not be carried out on the
   working group mailing list.

 Development

   Once the descriptive specification is submitted to the standards
   process, the group will work on development of HTML, taking on the
work
   known as HTMLPlus.  This work will include formats for tables,
figures
   and mathematical formulae.

   In the absence of other proposals, the working group will terminate
   having produced its milestones and the RFCs having achieved
standards
   status.

Goals and Milestones:

  DEC 94       Outline the requirements list for HTML above the HTML
               features deployed today, with development priority, and
               submit as an Internet-Draft.

  DEC 94       Submit the text/html MIME type as an Internet-Draft.

  Done         Submit descriptive specification as Internet-Draft.

  Done         Submit Internet-Drafts for new feature sets for HTML levels
               3 and above. Each of these should cover a specific feature
               set, and be based on adoption of existing conventions or
               standards and/or experience with demonstrable working code.

  MAY 95       Complete repeated revision of `new feature sets'
               Internet-Drafts based on e-mail and meeting discussion.

  JUL 95       Submit the descriptive specification for Proposed Standard.


Internet-Drafts:

 No Current Internet-Drafts.

Request For Comments:

 RFC   Stat Published     Title
------- -- ----------- ------------------------------------
RFC1866 PS   NOV 95    Hypertext Markup Language - 2.0

RFC1867 E    NOV 95    Form-based File Upload in HTML

RFC1942 E    MAY 96    HTML Tables

RFC2070 PS   JAN 97    Internationalization of the Hypertext Markup
                      Language