Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL) 1.0 Specification

This document specifies version 1 of the Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL 1.0, pronounced “smile”). SMIL allows integrating a set of independent multimedia objects into a synchronized multimedia presentation. Using SMIL, an author can

1. describe the temporal behavior of the presentation
2. describe the layout of the presentation on a screen
3. associate hyperlinks with media objects

This specification is structured as follows: Section 2 presents the specification approach. Section 2 defines the “smil” element. Section 3 defines the elements that can be contained in the head part of a SMIL document. Section 4 defines the elements that can be contained in the body part of a SMIL document. In particular, this Section defines the time model used in SMIL. Section 5 describes the SMIL DTD.
Status of this Document

This document is a W3C Working Draft produced by the W3C Working Group on Synchronized Multimedia (SYMM). This document is [soon to be] undergoing review by the Members of the World Wide Web Consortium. It is a stable document derived from a series of working drafts produced over the last year as deliverables of the Synchronized Multimedia activity. Details of this review have been distributed to Member’s representatives. Comments by non-Members should be sent to www-smil@w3.org.

For most of the features in this specification, interoperability of independently developed implementations has been demonstrated at an interoperability meeting. Implementation of the remaining features is in progress. Endorsement of this specification as a W3C Recommendation is contingent on demonstration of interoperability for the remaining features.

Specification Approach

SMIL documents are XML 1.0 documents [XML10]. The reader is expected to be familiar with the concepts and terms defined in XML 1.0.

This specification does not rely on particular features defined in URLs that cannot potentially be expressed using URNs. Therefore, the more generic term URI [URI] is used throughout the specification.

The syntax of SMIL documents is defined by the DTD in Section 5.2. The syntax of an attribute value that cannot be defined using the DTD notation is defined together with the first element using an attribute that can contain the attribute value. The syntax of such attribute values is defined using the Extended Backus-Naur Form (EBNF) defined in the XML 1.0 specification.

An element definition is structured as follows: First, all attributes of the element are defined in alphabetical order. An attribute is defined in the following way: If the attribute is used by an element for the first time in the specification, the semantics of the attribute are defined. If the attribute has already been used by another element, the specification refers to the definition of the attribute in the first element that used it. The definition of element attributes is followed by the definition of any attribute values whose syntax cannot be defined using the DTD notation. The final section in an element definition specifies the element content.

Source : Coverpages