Wireless Markup Language (WML), is an XML based language designed to be a lite version of HTML for mobile devices. It was first known as HDML (Handheld Devices Markup Languages). WML is part of the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and is specifically devised for small screens and one-hand navigation without a keyboard. WML is scalable from two-line text displays up through graphic screens found on items such as smart phones and communicators.
Device Support
If a phone or other communications device is said to be WAP-capable, this means that it has a piece of software loaded onto it (known as a microbrowser) that understands how to render web documents formatted in the WML language.
WML Keepers
The official WML specification is developed and maintained by the WAP Forum, an industry-wide consortium founded by Nokia, Phone.com, Motorola, and Ericsson. This specification defines the syntax, variables, and elements used in a valid WML file.
WML vs HTML
If you are familiar with writing HTML and have worked with XML, you should have no trouble grasping WML as language to develop web sites in. Pages written in WML have a very precise format and are case sensitive. A WML document must correspond to a valid Document Type Definition (DTD).
- WML is case sensitive. Elements and attributes are lowercase.
- Tags must have closing tags.
- Tags must be properly nested.
- Attribute values must be enclosed in either single or double quotes.
Example deceleration:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1" ?>
<!DOCTYPE wml PUBLIC "-//WAPFORUM//DTD WML 1.1//EN"
"http://www.wapforum.org/DTD/wml_1.1.xml">
Not all web servers can run WML out of the box. For WML content to be run, a web host must make some changes to the configuration of their web server. The Apache web server can run WML.
A web site has HTML pages, while a WAP site has WML cards. The WML card is what you see on the screen of your mobile device.
<card id="index" title="Hello World!" newcontext="true">
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