Introduction

An XBL file contains one or more bindings, expressed with the xbl:binding element:

<xbl:xbl
    xmlns:xf="http://www.w3.org/2002/xforms"
    xmlns:acme="http://www.acme.com/xbl"
    xmlns:xbl="http://www.w3.org/ns/xbl">
​
    <xbl:binding
        id="acme-multi-tool"
        element="acme|multi-tool">
​
        ...binding definition here...
​
    </xbl:binding>
</xbl>

The binding:

• describes the component's markup and behavior

• determines which XML elements, in the source form, it associates with, in this case elements with qualified name acme:multi-tool.

Directory layout

Your own components

Each binding must have has a direct binding by element name (see below). In the example above, it is acme|multi-tool.

NOTE: This is CSS syntax to express what in XML you would usually refer to as acme:multi-tool. It's just that CSS chose as namespace separator | instead of XML's standard :.

The binding by element name can be split into two parts:

• acme

  • This is the namespace prefix.

  • The acme namespace prefix maps to the namespace URI http://www.acme.com/xbl via the XML namespace mapping xmlns:acme="http://www.acme.com/xbl".

• multi-tool: this is the XML element's local name

NOTE: It is up to you to choose a prefix and namespace URI for your project or company. You can then reuse those for a number of component bindings.

So this binding gives us the pair:

• namespace URI: http://www.acme.com/xbl

• local name: multi-tool

The http://www.acme.com/xbl namespace URI in turn is the key to a standardized namespace prefix defined in properties:

<property as="xs:string" name="oxf.xforms.xbl.mapping.acme">
    http://www.acme.com/xbl
</property>

This is just another way of defining a mapping between a namespace prefix and a namespace URI, except here we do it in a centralized place so that all components using namespace http://www.acme.com/xbl yield the same prefix, acme.

Now let's see where files are located when an element <acme:multi-tool> is encountered:

1. Orbeon Forms looks for a property with a name that starts with oxf.xforms.xbl.mapping and with a value equal to the namespace http://www.acme.com/xbl. In this case it finds the property oxf.xforms.xbl.mapping.acme.

2. The XForms engine extracts the part of the property name after oxf.xforms.xbl.mapping, in this case acme.

3. This is used to resolve the resource oxf:/xbl/acme/multi-tool/multi-tool.xbl.

   • The first part of the path is always xbl.

   • This is followed by the prefix name, here acme.

   • This is followed by a directory with the same name as the local name of your component, containing an XBL file also with the same name, here multi-tool/multi-tool.xbl.

You place other files, such as CSS and JavaScript files related to the acme|multi-tool component, in the same directory. For example:

• oxf:/xbl/acme/multi-tool/multi-tool.css

• oxf:/xbl/acme/multi-tool/multi-tool.js

and so on.

Built-in Form Runner components

All elements in the http://orbeon.org/oxf/xml/form-runner namespace (typically using the prefix fr, short for "Form Runner") are also handled this way, thanks to a mapping defined as follows:

<property as="xs:string" name="oxf.xforms.xbl.mapping.orbeon">
    http://orbeon.org/oxf/xml/form-runner
</property>

For example:

• <fr:number> is loaded from oxf:/xbl/orbeon/number/number.xbl

• <fr:section> is loaded from oxf:/xbl/orbeon/section/section.xbl

NOTE: You shouldn't use the fr prefix or the http://orbeon.org/oxf/xml/form-runner namespace URI for your own components.

See also: By name bindings.

Binding selectors

Introduction

The element attribute specifies, via one or more CSS selectors, which XML elements, in the source form, it associates with. The following CSS selectors are supported:

• by element name

• by element name and XML datatype (Form Builder only)

• by attribute only [SINCE Orbeon Forms 4.9]

• by element name and attribute [SINCE Orbeon Forms 4.9]

Binding by element name

The simplest way is to bind by element name:

element="fr|number"

This means that elements called fr:number in the form will use this binding.

Binding by datatype

Form Builder, at design time only (as of Orbeon Forms 4.9), also supports bindings by name and XML datatype:

xf|input:xxf-type('xs:decimal')

This must be used on conjunction with a "direct" binding like fr|number:

fr|number, xf|input:xxf-type('xs:decimal')

In this case an input field (xf:input) bound to an xs:decimal or xf:decimal type will be substituted, at design time, with an fr:number binding.

NOTE: In the future, we would like such bindings to work at runtime as well, see #1248.

Binding by attribute

[SINCE Orbeon Forms 4.9]

It is possible to associate bindings by:

• attribute only

• or by name and attribute

The following matches elements such as <fr:character-counter> (by name) but also <foo:bar appearance="cool character-counter stuff">, because of the ~= operator which means that the attribute is "a list of whitespace-separated values, one of which is exactly equal to" character-counter:

element="fr|character-counter, [appearance ~= character-counter]"

The following matches elements having the character-counter appearance and which, at the same time, have the name foo:bar:

element="foo|bar[appearance ~= character-counter]"

The following standard CSS selector operations on attributes are supported: =, ~=, ^=, $=, *=, |= (from Selectors Level 4 draft):

Binding to elements in the XForms namespace

[SINCE Orbeon Forms 4.10]

An XBL binding can also be bound to elements in the XForms namespace. For example:

fr|character-counter,
xf|input[appearance ~= character-counter],
xf|textarea[appearance ~= character-counter],
xf|secret[appearance ~= character-counter],
fr|tinymce[appearance ~= character-counter]

This selector associates, for example the following element to the fr:character-counter component:

<xf:input appearance="character-counter">

See also

• ​How the new Form Builder Appearance Selector Works​