W3C DOM Activities

The Document Object Model (DOM) is a platform, a language-independent application programming interface (API), that allows programs to access and modify the content, structure, and style of documents.

DOM Tutorial

To learn more about DOM, please read our HTML DOM Tutorialand XML DOM Tutorial.

Level 0 DOM

Level 0 DOM is not a W3C specification. It is merely a definition of equivalent functionality in Netscape Navigator 3.0 and Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0.

Key roles in the development of DOM include ArborText, IBM, Inso EPS, JavaSoft, Microsoft, Netscape, Novell, the Object Management Group, SoftQuad, Sun Microsystems, and Texcel.

The W3C Level 1 DOM is built on this functionality.

Level 1 DOM

Level 1 DOM focuses on the HTML and XML document model. It contains document navigation and processing functions.

Level 1 DOM became a W3C recommendation standard on October 1, 1998.

The second edition of the working draft was on September 29, 2000.

Level 2 DOM

DOM Level 2 adds the style sheet object model to DOM Level 1 and defines the functionality for operating on style information attached to the document.

DOM Level 2 also defines an event model and provides support for XML namespaces.

As a W3C Recommendation, the DOM Level 2 specification was published on November 13, 2000:

DOM Level 2 Core

The DOM Level 2 Core specification defines an API for accessing and modifying the content and structure of a document, which also includes interfaces for XML.

DOM Level 2 HTML

The DOM Level 2 HTML specification defines the API for operating on the structure and content of HTML documents. (This part of the specification is still a working draft)

DOM Level 2 Views

The DOM Level 2 specification defines the API for accessing and modifying document views. Views are representations or alternative representations associated with the original document.

DOM Level 2 Style

The DOM Level 2 Style specification defines the API for dynamically accessing and modifying content style sheets.

DOM Level 2 Events

The DOM Level 2 Events specification defines the API for accessing document events.

DOM Level 2 Traversal-Range

The DOM Level 2 Traversal-Range specification defines the API for dynamically traversing and identifying content ranges within a document.

DOM Level 3

DOM Level 3 specifies the content model (DTD and Schemas) and document validation. It also defines document loading and saving, document viewing, document formatting, and key events. DOM Level 3 is built upon DOM Core Level 2.

DOM Level 3 Requirements

The DOM Requirements document has been updated for Level 3 requirements and was published as a working draft on April 12, 2000.

The following DOM Level 3 working drafts were published on September 1, 2000:

DOM Level 3 Core

The DOM Level 3 Core specification defines an API for accessing and modifying the content, structure, and style of a document.

DOM Level 3 Events

By adding new interfaces and a new set of events, the DOM Level 3 Events API extends the functionality of the Level 2 Event API.

DOM Level 3 Load and Save

The DOM Level 3 Content Model specification defines the API for content loading and saving, content models (DTD and Schemas), and document validation support.

DOM Level 3 Views and Formatting

The DOM Level 3 Views specification defines the API for accessing and modifying document views. Views are representations or alternative representations associated with the original document.

W3C DOM Standard and Timeline

Standard Draft/Proposal Recommendation
DOM Level 1 　 October 1, 1998
DOM Level 1 (SE) September 29, 2000 　
DOM Level 2 Core 　 November 13, 2000
DOM Level 2 HTML 　 January 9, 2003
DOM Level 2 Views 　 November 13, 2000
DOM Level 2 Style 　 November 13, 2000
DOM Level 2 Events 　 November 13, 2000
DOM Level 2 Traversal-Range 　 November 13, 2000
DOM Level 3 Requirements February 26, 2004 　
DOM Level 3 Core 　 April 7, 2004
DOM Level 3 Events December 21, 2007 　
DOM Level 3 Load and Save 　 April 7, 2004
DOM Level 3 Validation 　 January 27, 2004
DOM Level 3 XPath February 26, 2004 　
DOM Level 3 Views February 26, 2004 　

W3C References

W3C DOM Home