Specification for Inline XBRL 0.64

Markup for embedding XBRL metadata inside HTML documents

Candidate Recommendation 30 June 2008

Copyright ©2008 XBRL International Inc., All Rights Reserved.

This version:
<http://www.xbrl.org/Specification/inlineXBRL/CR-2008-06-30/inlineXBRL-CR-2008-06-30.html>
Editors:
Philip Allen , CoreFiling Limited <plega@corefiling.com>
Ian Stokes-Rees , CoreFiling Limited <ijs@corefiling.com>
Contributors:
David vun Kannon , PricewaterhouseCoopers <david.k.vun.kannon@us.pwc.com>
Hugh Wallis , XBRL International, Inc. <hughwallis@xbrl.org>
Michael Leditschke , Australian Bureau of Statistics <michael.leditschke@abs.gov.au>
Neil Griffiths , CoreFiling Limited <neil.griffiths@corefiling.com>
Paul Warren , CoreFiling Limited <pdw@corefiling.com>
Martin Rist , CoreFiling Limited <mlr@corefiling.com>
Ray Lam , Just Systems <ray.lam@justsystems.com>
Walter Hamscher , Standard Advantage <walter@hamscher.com>

Status

Circulation of this Candidate Recommendation is unrestricted.This document is normative. Other documents may supersede this document. Recipients are invited to submit comments to rendering-feedback@xbrl.org , and to submit notification of any relevant patent rights of which they are aware and provide supporting documentation.

Abstract

Inline XBRL is a standard for embedding XBRL fragments into an HTML document. The objective is to provide documents which can be viewed in a browser while making use of XBRL tags which can be processed automatically by consuming applications. This specification defines the syntax for such documents and how the syntax maps into an XBRL instance.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction (non-normative)
2 About this document
2.1 Conventions used in this document
2.2 XML namespaces
2.3 Prefixes
3 Structure
3.1 The Inline XBRL Document Set
3.2 The Target Document
3.3 Processors
3.4 The XHTML modular Schema for Inline XBRL
4 The exclude element
4.1 Definition
4.1.1 Constraints on ix:exclude
5 The footnoteLink element
5.1 Definition
5.1.1 Validation rules
5.2 Mapping
6 The fraction, denominator and numerator elements
6.1 Definitions
6.1.1 Constraints on ix:fraction
6.1.2 Validation rules
6.2 Mapping
6.2.1 Element type
6.2.2 Attributes
6.2.3 Children
7 The header element
7.1 Definition
7.1.1 Constraints on ix:header
7.1.2 Non-validatable constraints on ix:header
7.1.3 Validation rules
8 The hidden element
8.1 Definition
8.1.1 Constraints on ix:hidden
8.1.2 Non-validatable constraints on ix:hidden
9 The nonFraction element
9.1 Definition
9.1.1 Constraints on ix:nonFraction
9.1.2 Validation rules
9.2 Mapping
9.2.1 Element type
9.2.2 Attributes
9.2.3 Children
9.3 Example
10 The nonNumeric element
10.1 Definition
10.1.1 Constraints on ix:nonNumeric
10.1.2 Validation rules
10.2 Mapping
10.2.1 Element type
10.2.2 Attributes
10.2.3 Children
10.3 Example
11 The references element
11.1 Definition
11.1.1 Constraints on ix:references
11.1.2 Validation rules
11.2 Mapping
12 The resources element
12.1 Definition
12.1.1 Constraints on ix:resources
12.1.2 Validation rules
12.2 Mapping
13 The tuple element
13.1 Definition
13.1.1 Constraints on ix:tuple
13.1.2 Validation rules
13.2 Mapping
13.2.1 Element type
13.2.2 Children
14 Transformation rules

Appendices

A References
B Intellectual property status (non-normative)
C Acknowledgements (non-normative)
D Document history (non-normative)
E Errata corrections in this document

Tables

1 Inline XBRL Elements
2 Inline XBRL attributes
3 XML representation summary: ix:exclude element information item
4 XML representation summary: ix:footnoteLink element information item
5 XML representation summary: ix:fraction element information item
6 XML representation summary: ix:denominator element information item
7 XML representation summary: ix:numerator element information item
8 XML representation summary: ix:header element information item
9 XML representation summary: ix:hidden element information item
10 XML representation summary: ix:nonFraction element information item
11 XML representation summary: ix:nonNumeric element information item
12 XML representation summary: ix:references element information item
13 XML representation summary: ix:resources element information item
14 XML representation summary: ix:tuple element information item

Examples

1 Nesting within an HTML table
2 Nesting within Markup Elements
3 Ordering of tuples
4 Cross-nested tuples

Definitions

Conformant Processor
Inline XBRL Document
Inline XBRL Document Set
Inline XBRL Element
Inline XBRL Schema
Markup Element
Target Document
Transformation Rules
Validating Conformant Processor
XBRL-valid


1 Introduction (non-normative)

There is a clear need to publish financial and business information both in human-readable and machine-readable formats. With the growth of interest in using the [XBRL 2.1] standard to transmit information in a machine-readable format, it has become necessary to create an extension to the [XBRL 2.1] standard which will tie the machine-readable data to co-existing human-readable formats.

Inline XBRL provides a mechanism for taking financial and business information formatted in HTML, the universal language for web browsers, and adding to it hidden metadata which can be used to construct a machine-readable copy of the same information. That extracted, machine-readable, information is fully compliant with the [XBRL 2.1] standard and can be used by regulators and other consumers of financial information.

2 About this document

2.1 Conventions used in this document

The key words MUST, MUST NOT, REQUIRED, SHALL, SHALL NOT, SHOULD, SHOULD NOT, RECOMMENDED, MAY, and OPTIONAL in this document are to be interpreted as described in [IETF RFC 2119].

The key words attribute, element, element type or type, ID, root, valid and XML document in this document are to be interpreted as described in the [XML] specification.

The key words child or children, information item, namespace name, prefix and property or properties in this document are to be interpreted as described in the [XML Infoset] specification.

The key words anyURI, decimal, integer, NCName, QName and string in this document are to be interpreted as described in [XML Schema Datatypes].

The key words actual value, schema document and string in this document are to be interpreted as described in [XML Schema Structures].

The key words discoverable taxonomy set or DTS, extended link, fact, item, s-equal and v-equal in this document are to be interpreted as described in the [XBRL 2.1] specification.

2.2 XML namespaces

This specification defines an XML namespace to be used for XML components described herein. It is http://www.xbrl.org/2008/inlineXBRL.

2.3 Prefixes

This specification uses a number of prefixes when describing elements and attributes. These are:

Prefix Namespace name
ix http://www.xbrl.org/2008/inlineXBRL
link http://www.xbrl.org/2003/linkbase
xbrli http://www.xbrl.org/2003/instance
xl http://www.xbrl.org/2003/XLink
xlink http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink
xml http://www.w3.org/XML/1998/namespace

3 Structure

3.1 The Inline XBRL Document Set

The Inline XBRL Document Set is a group of one or more Inline XBRL Documents which when comprising sufficient metadata results in one or more Target Documents when transformed according to the mapping rules prescribed in this specification.

An Inline XBRL Document is a well-formed XML document containing both Markup Elements, Inline XBRL Elements and certain other elements as defined herein.

Within an Inline XBRL Document, the Inline XBRL Elements are interspersed between or nested within Markup Elements, in such a way that the value of each XBRL fact may be displayed by a browser.

An Inline XBRL Element is any element defined by this specification with the http://www.xbrl.org/2008/inlineXBRL namespace name.

Each one of the Inline XBRL Elements in an Inline XBRL Document represents a different component of a Target Document. In general, each Inline XBRL Element takes the same content model as the matching component of the Target Document, except as set out below. The following Inline XBRL Elements are defined in this specification:

Table 1: Inline XBRL Elements
Name
ix:denominator
ix:exclude
ix:footnoteLink
ix:fraction
ix:header
ix:hidden
ix:nonFraction
ix:nonNumeric
ix:numerator
ix:references
ix:resources
ix:tuple

A Markup Element is an XML element which does not have its namespace name listed in Section 2.3.

The following Inline XBRL attributes are defined in this specification:

Table 2: Inline XBRL attributes
Name
ix:format
ix:name
ix:order
ix:scale
ix:sign
ix:target
ix:tupleID
ix:tupleRef

3.2 The Target Document

A Target Document is the XBRL-valid XBRL instance document represented by metadata in the Inline XBRL Document Set.

An XBRL instance document is XBRL-valid if it can be validated as described in [XBRL 2.1].

An Inline XBRL Document Set can be used to define multiple Target Documents by setting the ix:target attributes on certain Inline XBRL Elements.

For each unique value of the {target} property on such Inline XBRL Elements there MUST exist a Target Document containing only such XBRL facts and [XLink]-specified relationships as are required by the mapping rules prescribed in this specification for the Inline XBRL Elements with that value of the {target} property.

3.3 Processors

A Conformant Processor is a processor which transforms an Inline XBRL Document Set according to the mapping rules prescribed in this specification.

A Validating Conformant Processor is a Conformant Processor that validates the Inline XBRL Document Set in accordance with the following rule.

When the Inline XBRL Document Set consists entirely of Inline XBRL Documents which have a root html element with the http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml namespace name, the Validating Conformant Processor MUST validate:

  1. the Inline XBRL Document Set in conformance with the rules described herein; and
  2. each constituent Inline XBRL Document in conformance with the rules defined by the XHTML + iXBRL Schema.

It should never be necessary for a Conformant Processor or a Validating Conformant Processor to access the DTS of the Target Document whilst processing. Whether it does so will depend upon the design of the processor.

3.4 The XHTML modular Schema for Inline XBRL

The normative copy of the XHTML + iXBRL Schema is kept at http://www.xbrl.org/2008/inlineXBRL-2008-06-30.xsd.

Future versions of this document will contain the normative version of the schema in the document itself and a non-normative copy will be placed on the web.

4 The exclude element

4.1 Definition

The ix:exclude element is used to encapsulate data that is to be excluded from the processing of ix:nonNumeric elements, and has the following properties:

Table 3: XML representation summary: ix:exclude element information item
<ix:exclude >

  Content: ( any text node | element )*

</ix:exclude>

The purpose of the ix:exclude element is to prevent text content from being included in the {value} property of ix:nonNumeric. It has no other use.

4.1.1 Constraints on ix:exclude

The ix:exclude element MUST be a descendant of an ix:nonNumeric  element.

5 The footnoteLink element

5.1 Definition

The ix:footnoteLink element represents the link:footnoteLink element, and is an extended link.

The ix:footnoteLink element information item has the following properties:

Table 4: XML representation summary: ix:footnoteLink element information item
<ix:footnoteLink

  {any attributes with the [xml:] namespace name} >

</ix:footnoteLink>
Property Representation
{arcrole} The actual value of the xlink:arcrole attribute of the link:footnoteArc children of ix:footnoteLink.
{facts} The set of Inline XBRL Elements located by the link:loc children of ix:footnoteLink.
{footnote arcs} The set of link:footnoteArc children of ix:footnoteLink.
{footnotes} The set of link:footnote children of ix:hidden for which the {footnote id} property matches the {footnote references} property of ix:footnoteLink together with the link:footnote children of ix:footnoteLink.
{footnote references} The set of space-separated references contained in the actual value of the ix:footnoteRefs attribute.
{id} The actual value of the id attribute.
{role} The actual value of the xlink:role attribute.
{title} The actual value of the xlink:title attribute.
{type} The actual value of the xlink:type attribute.

Note that xl:title is an abstract element and therefore cannot appear itself, although an element in the xl:title substitution group may.

Some XBRL Instances use multiple link:footnote elements in a single link:footnoteLink element in order, for example, to support multiple languages. It may be desired that the text content of only one of these link:footnote elements be displayed in the Inline XBRL Document. In this case, the displayed footnote should be included within the ix:footnoteLink element at the appropriate place within the Inline XBRL Document. The non-displayed footnotes should be placed inside the ix:hidden element.

5.1.1 Validation rules

5.2 Mapping

For each element F in {facts} there MUST exist in a Target Document a link:footnoteLink element T with a link:loc child which locates the XBRL fact which satisfies the applicable mapping rules defined by this specification for F such that:

  1. the link:footnote children of T are s-equal to the members of {footnotes};
  2. the link:footnoteArc children of T are s-equal to {footnote arcs}; and
  3. {role} is v-equal to the xlink:role property of T.

6 The fraction, denominator and numerator elements

6.1 Definitions

The ix:fraction element denotes an XBRL fact which is an element of type, or derived from type, fractionItemType; and has the following properties:

Table 5: XML representation summary: ix:fraction element information item
<ix:fraction

  ix:name = QName

  ix:order = decimal

  ix:target = NCName

  ix:tupleRef = NCName

  contextRef = NCName

  unitRef = NCName

  Content: ( any text node | any children with a namespace name other than [ix:] | ix:denominator | ix:numerator ) +

</ix:fraction>
Property Representation
{concept name} The actual value of the ix:name attribute.
{target} The Target Document identified by the actual value of the ix:target attribute or, if absent, the default Target Document.
{tuple order} The actual value of the ix:order attribute.
{context definition} The xbrli:context element in the Inline XBRL Document Set for which the actual value of the id attribute is equal to the actual value of the contextRef attribute.
{context reference} The actual value of the contextRef attribute.
{unit definition} The xbrli:unit element in the Inline XBRL Document Set for which the actual value of the id attribute is equal to the actual value of the xbrli:unit attribute.
{unit reference} The actual value of the unitRef attribute.
{tuple reference} The actual value of the ix:tupleRef attribute.

The ix:denominator element denotes an XBRL denominator element; and has the following properties:

Table 6: XML representation summary: ix:denominator element information item
<ix:denominator

  ix:format = string

  ix:scale = integer

  ix:sign = string

</ix:denominator>
Property Representation
{denominator format transformation} The Transformation Rule as identified by the actual value of the ix:format attribute.
{denominator scale} The result of raising ten to the power of the actual value of the ix:scale attribute.
{denominator negative sign} If the ix:sign attribute is present, shall be true, otherwise false.
{denominator value} The text content of the ix:denominator element.

The ix:numerator element denotes an XBRL numerator element; and has the following properties:

Table 7: XML representation summary: ix:numerator element information item
<ix:numerator

  ix:format = string

  ix:scale = integer

  ix:sign = string

</ix:numerator>
Property Representation
{numerator format transformation} The Transformation Rule as identified by the actual value of the ix:format attribute.
{numerator scale} The result of raising ten to the power of the actual value of the ix:scale attribute.
{numerator negative sign} If the ix:sign attribute is present, shall be true, otherwise false.
{numerator value} The text content of the ix:numerator element.

The ix:denominator and ix:numerator  elements support scaling, negative numbers and format transformations as described in Section 9 below.

6.1.1 Constraints on ix:fraction

The ix:fraction element MUST have ix:name, contextRef and unitRef attributes.

The ix:fraction element MUST have exactly one ix:denominator descendant element.

The ix:fraction element MUST have exactly one ix:numerator descendant element.

The ix:sign attribute, where present, MUST have the value "-".

6.1.2 Validation rules

There MUST be exactly one xbrli:context element in the Inline XBRL Document Set for which the actual value of the id attribute is equal to the {context reference} property.

There MUST be exactly one ix:tuple element in the Inline XBRL Document Set with an {id} property which has a value matching the {tuple reference} property.

There MUST be exactly one xbrli:unit element in the Inline XBRL Document Set for which the actual value of the id attribute is equal to the {unit reference} property.

6.2 Mapping

For each ix:fraction element, there MUST exist in the Target Document identified by the {target} property an element which has the following XML properties:

6.2.1 Element type

The element type MUST be {concept name}.

6.2.2 Attributes

The element MUST have contextRef and unitRef attributes.

The element MUST have attributes with the following properties:

contextRef The value of the contextRef attribute MUST be equal to the value of the id attribute of an xbrli:context element in the Target Document which is s-equal to the {context definition}.
unitRef The value of the unitRef attribute MUST be equal to the value of the id attribute of an xbrli:unit element in the Target Document which is s-equal to the {unit definition}.

6.2.3 Children

The element MUST have child elements with the following properties:

xbrli:denominator The value of xbrli:denominator MUST be equal to the result of applying {denominator format transformation} (if present) to {denominator value}, multiplying by {denominator scale}, if present, and changing the sign of the result if {denominator negative sign} is true.
xbrli:numerator The value of xbrli:numerator MUST be equal to the result of applying {numerator format transformation} (if present) to {numerator value}, multiplying by {numerator scale}, if present, and changing the sign of the result if {numerator negative sign} is true.

7 The header element

7.1 Definition

The ix:header element contains the non-displayed portions of the Target Document and has the following properties:

Table 8: XML representation summary: ix:header element information item
<ix:header>

  Content: ( ix:hidden | ix:references | ix:resources) +

</ix:header>
Property Representation
{hidden} The children of the ix:hidden element.
{references} The children of the ix:references element.
{resources} The children of the ix:resources element.

7.1.1 Constraints on ix:header

The ix:header element MUST NOT be a child of an HTML head element.

The ix:header element MUST have no more than one ix:hidden child element.

The ix:header element MUST have no more than one ix:resources child element.

7.1.2 Non-validatable constraints on ix:header

The ix:header element MUST be enclosed with Markup Elements which ensure that the ix:header element will not be displayed in the browser.

It is RECOMMENDED that the parent of the ix:header element be a div element which has a style attribute with the value display:none.

7.1.3 Validation rules

There MUST be at least one ix:header element in the Inline XBRL Document Set.

8 The hidden element

8.1 Definition

The ix:hidden element is used to contain XBRL facts that are not to be displayed in the Inline XBRL Document, and has the following properties:

Table 9: XML representation summary: ix:hidden element information item
<ix:hidden>

  Content: ( link:footnote | ix:footnoteLink | ix:fraction | ix:nonFraction | ix:nonNumeric | ix:tuple) +

</ix:hidden>
Property Representation
{footnote} The link:footnote children of the ix:hidden element.
{footnote id} For each link:footnote child of the ix:hidden element, the actual value of the id attribute.
{footnoteLink} The ix:footnoteLink children of the ix:hidden element.
{fraction} The ix:fraction children of the ix:hidden element.
{nonFraction} The ix:nonFraction children of the ix:hidden element.
{nonNumeric} The ix:nonNumeric children of the ix:hidden element.
{tuple} The ix:tuple children of the ix:hidden element.

8.1.1 Constraints on ix:hidden

The ix:hidden element MUST be a child of the ix:header element.

The link:footnote element, when a child of the ix:hidden element, MUST have an id attribute.

8.1.2 Non-validatable constraints on ix:hidden

If a link:footnote, ix:fraction, ix:nonFraction, ix:nonNumeric or ix:tuple element is not to be displayed, it MUST be a child of ix:hidden.

9 The nonFraction element

9.1 Definition

The ix:nonFraction element denotes an XBRL numeric item which is an element which is not of type, nor derived from type, fractionItemType; and has the following properties:

Table 10: XML representation summary: ix:nonFraction element information item
<ix:nonFraction

  ix:format = string

  ix:name = QName

  ix:order = decimal

  ix:target = NCName

  ix:tupleRef = NCName

  ix:scale = integer

  ix:sign = string

  contextRef = NCName

  decimals = xbrli:decimalsType

  precision = xbrli:precisionType

  unitRef = NCName

</ix:nonFraction>
Property Representation
{concept name} The actual value of the ix:name attribute.
{context definition} The xbrli:context element in the Inline XBRL Document Set for which the actual value of the id attribute is equal to the actual value of the contextRef attribute.
{context reference} The actual value of the contextRef attribute.
{decimals} The actual value of the decimals attribute.
{format transformation} The Transformation Rule as identified by the actual value of the ix:format attribute.
{precision} The actual value of the precision attribute.
{tuple reference} The actual value of the ix:tupleRef attribute.
{scale} The result of raising ten to the power of the actual value of the ix:scale attribute.
{sign} If the ix:sign attribute is present, shall be "-".
{target} The Target Document identified by the actual value of the ix:target attribute or, if absent, the default Target Document.
{tuple order} The actual value of the ix:order attribute.
{unit definition} The xbrli:unit element in the Inline XBRL Document Set for which the actual value of the id attribute is equal to the actual value of the xbrli:unit attribute.
{unit reference} The actual value of the unitRef attribute.
{value} The text content of the ix:nonFraction element.

It is common to include formatting in displayed numbers, such as group separators, which would not be valid in the Target Document. Inline XBRL uses Transformation Rules to transform such items into values that will be valid in the Target Document.

The ix:nonFraction element will either satisfy the validation rules for a given Transformation Rule or it will, in its un-transformed state, be capable of validation against the DTS for the Target Document. Both these conditions are covered by the requirement that the Target Document be XBRL-valid.

The display of numeric non-fractions in the Inline XBRL Document will often differ from the form in which those items are incorporated into the XBRL Instance. In financial statements, this is commonly done to allow numbers to be scaled and presented to the reader in thousands, millions or billions.

Inline XBRL provides a transformation mechanism that allows this treatment to be preserved in the Inline XBRL Document.

Where the scale of the displayed value in the Inline XBRL Document is different to that used in the XBRL Instance, the ix:nonFraction element is given an ix:scale attribute to indicate the required scaling value. For instance, if the Inline XBRL Document displays a value in units of thousands, it will be necessary to multiply the value of the ix:nonFraction by 1,000 to determine the correct value to be included in the XBRL Instance, and the ix:scale attribute is used to establish this.

The value of the ix:scale attribute shall be the appropriate scale factor (for instance, 1,000 in the previous example) expressed as an exponent of ten. Thus, if it is necessary to multiply the tagged value by 1,000 to determine the correct value to be included in the XBRL Instance, the value of the ix:scale attribute shall be 3.

Negative values are indicated by including an ix:sign attribute.

9.1.1 Constraints on ix:nonFraction

The ix:nonFraction element MUST have ix:name, contextRef and unitRef attributes.

The ix:nonFraction element MUST have either an decimals attribute or an precision attribute.

The ix:sign attribute, if present, MUST have the value "-".

9.1.2 Validation rules

There MUST be exactly one xbrli:context element in the Inline XBRL Document Set for which the actual value of the id attribute is equal to the {context reference} property.

There MUST be exactly one ix:tuple element in the Inline XBRL Document Set with an {id} property which has a value matching the {tuple reference} property.

There MUST be exactly one xbrli:unit element in the Inline XBRL Document Set for which the actual value of the id attribute is equal to the {unit reference} property.

9.2 Mapping

For each ix:nonFraction element, there MUST exist in the Target Document identified by the {target} property an element which has the following XML properties:

9.2.1 Element type

The element type MUST be {concept name}.

9.2.2 Attributes

The element MUST have attributes with the following properties:

contextRef The value of the contextRef attribute is equal to the value of the id attribute of an xbrli:context element in the Target Document which is s-equal to the {context definition}.
decimals The value of the decimals attribute is equal to {decimals}, if present, otherwise the attribute must be absent.
precision The value of the precision attribute is equal to {precision}, if present, otherwise the attribute must be absent.
unitRef The value of the unitRef attribute is equal to the value of the id attribute of an xbrli:unit element in the Target Document which is s-equal to the {unit definition}.

9.2.3 Children

The element MUST have children with the following properties:

text content The text content is equal to the result of applying {format transformation} (if present) to {value}, multiplying by {scale}, if present, and changing the sign of the result if {sign} is present.

9.3 Example

Example 1: Nesting within an HTML table
Inline XBRL markup, showing placement of XBRL metadata within a typical HTML table structure.
<td class="rightalign">
<b>
<ix:nonFraction ix:name="pt:TangibleFixedAssets" contextRef="e2003" id="s2-1" precision="4" unitRef="GBP">
7464
</ix:nonFraction>
</b>
</td>
<td class="rightalign">
<ix:nonFraction ix:name="pt:IntangibleFixedAssets" contextRef="e2003" precision="3" unitRef="GBP">
750
</ix:nonFraction>
</td>

Resulting XBRL Instance.

<pt:TangibleFixedAssets contextRef="e2003" id="s2-1" precision="4" unitRef="GBP">
7464
</pt:TangibleFixedAssets>
<pt:IntangibleFixedAssets contextRef="e2003" precision="3" unitRef="GBP">
750
</pt:IntangibleFixedAssets>

10 The nonNumeric element

10.1 Definition

The ix:nonNumeric element denotes an XBRL non-numeric item which has the following properties:

Table 11: XML representation summary: ix:nonNumeric element information item
<ix:nonNumeric

  ix:format = string

  ix:name = QName

  ix:order = decimal

  ix:target = NCName

  ix:tupleRef = NCName

  contextRef = NCName

  Content: ( any element | any text nodes ) *

</ix:nonNumeric>
Property Representation
{concept name} The actual value of the ix:name attribute.
{context definition} The xbrli:context element in the Inline XBRL Document Set for which the actual value of the id attribute is equal to the actual value of the contextRef attribute.
{context reference} The actual value of the contextRef attribute.
{format transformation} The Transformation Rule as identified by the actual value of the ix:format attribute.
{tuple reference} The actual value of the ix:tupleRef attribute.
{target} The Target Document identified by the actual value of the ix:target attribute or, if absent, the default Target Document.
{tuple order} The actual value of the ix:order attribute.
{value} The concatenation of all the children text nodes (determined recursively) except those which are descendants of a descendant ix:exclude element.

Certain XBRL items, such as those of type xbrli:booleanItemType, xbrli:dateTimeItemType and xbrli:timeItemType (amongst others) have content constraints which may not be met when displayed in the Inline XBRL Document. Inline XBRL uses Transformation Rules to transform the items as displayed into values that will be valid in the Target Document.

The ix:nonNumeric element will either satisfy the validation rules for a given Transformation Rule or it will, in its un-transformed state, be capable of validation against the DTS for the Target Document. Both these conditions are covered by the requirement that the Target Document be XBRL-valid.

The lack of restriction on the child nodes of ix:nonNumeric allows Inline XBRL Elements to be nested. This can be used, for instance, to allow a number embedded in a paragraph of text to appear in the Target Document both as a non-numeric item and, separately, as a numeric item.

The ix:exclude element can be used to exclude arbitrary data from the {value} property of ix:nonNumeric. This allows, for instance, page header information to be excluded from a paragraph which crosses page breaks. The ix:exclude tag does not prevent descendant elements from being processed elsewhere.

10.1.1 Constraints on ix:nonNumeric

The ix:nonNumeric element MUST have ix:name and contextRef attributes.

10.1.2 Validation rules

There MUST be exactly one xbrli:context element in the Inline XBRL Document Set for which the actual value of the id attribute is equal to the {context reference} property.

There MUST be exactly one ix:tuple element in the Inline XBRL Document Set with an {id} property which has a value matching the {tuple reference} property.

10.2 Mapping

For each ix:nonNumeric element, there MUST exist in the Target Document identified by the {target} property an element which has the following XML properties:

10.2.1 Element type

The element type MUST be {concept name}.

10.2.2 Attributes

The element MUST have attributes with the following properties:

contextRef The value of the contextRef attribute MUST be equal to the value of the id attribute of an xbrli:context element in the Target Document which is s-equal to the {context definition}.

10.2.3 Children

The element MUST have children with the following properties:

text content The text content is equal to the result of applying {format transformation} (if present) to {value}.

10.3 Example

Example 2: Nesting within Markup Elements

Inline XBRL markup, showing XBRL content interspersed with formatting code.

<ix:nonNumeric ix:name="pt:TypeOrdinaryShare" contextRef="y2003">
<i>
<b>
A
</b>
shares
</i>
</ix:nonNumeric>

Resulting XBRL Instance.

<pt:TypeOrdinaryShare contextRef="y2003">
A shares
</pt:TypeOrdinaryShare>

11 The references element

11.1 Definition

The ix:references element is used to contain reference elements which are required by a given Target Document, and has the following properties:

Table 12: XML representation summary: ix:references element information item
<ix:references>

  ix:target = NCName

  Content: ( link:schemaRef | link:linkbaseRef) +

</ix:references>
Property Representation
{target} The Target Document identified by the actual value of the ix:target attribute or, if absent, the default Target Document.
{value set} All children.

11.1.1 Constraints on ix:references

The ix:references element MUST be a child of the ix:header element.

11.1.2 Validation rules

There MUST be at least one ix:references element in the Inline XBRL Document Set.

11.2 Mapping

For each link:schemaRef in {value set} there shall be a link:schemaRef in the Target Document identified by the {target} property which MUST be s-equal to the link:schemaRef in {value set}.

For each link:linkbaseRef in {value set} there shall be a link:linkbaseRef in the Target Document identified by the {target} property which MUST be s-equal to the link:linkbaseRef in {value set}.

12 The resources element

12.1 Definition

The ix:resources element is used to contain reference elements which are required by one or more Target Documents, and has the following properties:

Table 13: XML representation summary: ix:resources element information item
<ix:resources>

  Content: ( link:roleRef | link:arcroleRef | xbrli:context | xbrli:unit) +

</ix:resources>
Property Representation
{value set} All children.

12.1.1 Constraints on ix:resources

The ix:resources element MUST be a child of the ix:header element.

12.1.2 Validation rules

There MUST be at least one ix:resources element in the Inline XBRL Document Set.

12.2 Mapping

For each link:arcroleRef R in {value set} with link:arcroleURI property U there MUST be a link:arcroleRef element T in each Target Document in which there is a link:footnoteLink element with an xlink:arcrole attribute with a value equal to that of U, such that T is s-equal to R.

For each link:roleRef R in {value set} with link:roleURI property U there MUST be a link:roleRef element T in each Target Document in which there is a link:footnoteLink element with an xlink:role attribute with a value equal to that of U, such that T is s-equal to R.

13 The tuple element

13.1 Definition

The ix:tuple element denotes an XBRL tuple which has the following properties:

Table 14: XML representation summary: ix:tuple element information item
<ix:tuple

  ix:tupleID = ID

  ix:name = QName

  ix:order = decimal

  ix:target = NCName

  ix:tupleRef = NCName

  Content: ( any element with a namespace name other than [ix:] | ix:fraction | ix:nonFraction | ix:nonNumeric | ix:tuple | any text nodes ) *

</ix:tuple>
Property Representation
{concept name} The actual value of the ix:name attribute.
{id} The actual value of the ix:tupleID attribute.
{tuple reference} The actual value of the ix:tupleRef attribute.
{target} The Target Document identified by the actual value of the ix:target attribute or, if absent, the default Target Document.
{tuple order} The actual value of the ix:order attribute.
{tuple content} All children with the http://www.xbrl.org/2008/inlineXBRL namespace name and, if {id} is present, all elements for which {tuple reference} is equal to {id} of the current ix:tuple element.

The display of tuples in the Inline XBRL Document will often differ from the form in which they are structured within the XBRL Instance. Inline XBRL has mechanisms to provide for both the correct ordering of tuple content and for the association of tuples with their children where cross-nesting or the need to prevent the display of particular children would make this otherwise difficult to achieve.

Where the requirements of the display model do not allow what would normally be the children of the tuple to be nested within that tuple, an ix:tupleID attribute is used to associate a tuple with its children.

The ordering of children in the Target Document is enforced through the {tuple order} property.

The following examples illustrate ordering and cross-nesting of tuples:

Example 3: Ordering of tuples

Inline XBRL markup, showing tuples displayed out of order.

<ix:tuple name="ae:DepreciationRate">
<td>
<ix:nonNumeric name="ae:CategoryItem" contextRef="y2003" ix:order="1">
Land &amp; Buildings
</ix:nonNumeric>
</td>
<td style="padding-left: 40px">
<ix:nonFraction name="ae:RateDepreciation" ix:scale="-1" precision="2" contextRef="y2003" ix:order="3" unitRef="pure">
10
</ix:nonFraction>
%
</td>
<td>
<ix:nonNumeric name="ae:TypeDepreciation" contextRef="y2003" ix:order="2">
straight line
</ix:nonNumeric>
</td>
</ix:tuple>

Resulting XBRL instance.

<ae:DepreciationRate>
<ae:CategoryItem contextRef="y2003">
Land &amp; Buildings
</ae:CategoryItem>
<ae:TypeDepreciation contextRef="y2003">
straight line
</ae:TypeDepreciation>
<ae:RateDepreciation precision="2" contextRef="y2003" unitRef="pure">
0.1
</ae:RateDepreciation>
</ae:DepreciationRate>

Example 4: Cross-nested tuples

Inline XBRL markup, showing hidden tuple in header and children of different tuples sharing the same table rows.

<div style="display:none">
<ix:header>
[...]
<ix:hidden>
<ix:nonNumeric contextRef="y2002" ix:name="pt:DescriptionSharesOrDebentures" ix:tupleRef="2" ix:order="1">
£1 Ordinary shares
</ix:nonNumeric>
</ix:hidden>
</ix:header>
</div>
<table>
<tr>
<td>
<ix:tuple ix:name="ae:Shareholding" ix:tupleID="1"/>
<ix:tuple ix:name="ae:Shareholding" ix:tupleID="2"/>
<ix:nonNumeric contextRef="y2003" ix:name="pt:DescriptionSharesOrDebentures" ix:tupleRef="1" ix:order="1">
£1 Ordinary shares
</ix:nonNumeric>
</td>
<td>
<ix:nonFraction precision="2" contextRef="e2003" ix:name="pt:SharesDirectorOrExecutive" ix:tupleRef="1" unitRef="shares" ix:order="2">
50
</ix:nonFraction>
</td>
<td>
<ix:nonFraction precision="2" contextRef="e2002" ix:name="pt:SharesDirectorOrExecutive" ix:tupleRef="2" unitRef="shares" ix:order="2">
50
</ix:nonFraction>
</td>
</tr>
</table>

Resulting XBRL instance.

<xbrl>
[...]
<ae:Shareholding>
<pt:DescriptionSharesOrDebentures contextRef="y2003">
£1 Ordinary shares
</pt:DescriptionSharesOrDebentures>
<pt:SharesDirectorOrExecutive precision="2" contextRef="e2003" unitRef="shares">
50
</pt:SharesDirectorOrExecutive>
</ae:Shareholding>
<ae:Shareholding>
<pt:DescriptionSharesOrDebentures contextRef="y2002">
£1 Ordinary shares
</pt:DescriptionSharesOrDebentures>
<pt:SharesDirectorOrExecutive precision="2" contextRef="e2002" unitRef="shares">
50
</pt:SharesDirectorOrExecutive>
</ae:Shareholding>
</xbrl>

13.1.1 Constraints on ix:tuple

The ix:tuple element MUST have an ix:name attribute.

The element MUST either have one or more ix:fraction, ix:nonFraction, ix:nonNumeric or ix:tuple children, or have an ix:tupleID atttribute.

The {target} property of the ix:tuple element MUST be equal to the {target} property of all elements in {tuple content}.

13.1.2 Validation rules

All elements MUST have an ix:order attribute if and only if they are members of {tuple content}.

There MUST be exactly one ix:tuple element in the Inline XBRL Document Set with an {id} property which has a value matching the {tuple reference} property.

There MUST be at least one element in {tuple content}.

The values of all the ix:order attributes amongst elements in {tuple content} MUST be unique.

13.2 Mapping

For each ix:tuple element, there MUST exist in the Target Document identified by the {target} property an element which has the following XML properties:

13.2.1 Element type

The element type MUST be {concept name}.

13.2.2 Children

The element MUST have children with the following properties:

child elements The child elements are {tuple content}, ordered in accordance with {tuple order}.

14 Transformation rules

A Transformation Rule is a set of instructions which when applied to a value of a given type outputs a value in a format which when included in the Target Document will be XBRL-valid.

The following non-normative list gives examples of Transformation Rules:

Format Code Input format Output format Output type Comment
commadecimal nnnnnnnnn,nn nnnnnnnnn.nn xs:decimal Comma decimal separator
commadot nnn,nnn,nnn.nn nnnnnnnnn.nn xs:decimal Comma-separated numbers
dateslashus MM/DD/YY(YY) YYYY-MM-DD xs:dateTime American dates with slashes
dateslasheu DD/MM/YY(YY) YYYY-MM-DD xs:dateTime European dates with slashes
dotcomma nnn.nnn.nnn,nn nnnnnnnnn.nn xs:decimal Dot-separated numbers
spacedot nnn nnn nnn.nn nnnnnnnnn.nn xs:decimal Space-separated numbers

The normative list of Transformation Rules and associated transformation code will be accessible through a registry which will be maintained under the authority of XBRL International, Inc. The registry mechanism will operate in accordance with a forthcoming registry specification.

Appendix A References

IETF RFC 2119
IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force). "RFC 2119: Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels"
Scott Bradner.
(See http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2119.txt)
XBRL 2.1
XBRL International Inc.. "Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) 2.1"
Phillip Engel, Walter Hamscher, Geoff Shuetrim, David vun Kannon, and Hugh Wallis.
(See http://www.xbrl.org/Specification/XBRL-RECOMMENDATION-2003-12-31+Corrected-Errata-2008-07-02.htm)
XLink
W3C (World Wide Web Consortium). "XML Linking Language (XLink) Version 1.0"
Steve DeRose, Eve Maler, and David Orchard.
(See http://www.w3.org/TR/xlink/)
XML
W3C (World Wide Web Consortium). "Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0 (Fourth Edition)"
Tim Bray, Jean Paoli, C. M. Sperberg-McQueen, Eve Maler, and François Yergeau.
(See http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-xml/)
XML Infoset
W3C (World Wide Web Consortium). "XML Information Set (Second Edition)"
John Cowan, and Richard Tobin.
(See http://www.w3.org/TR/2004/REC-xml-infoset-20040204)
XML Schema Datatypes
W3C (World Wide Web Consortium). "XML Schema Part 2: Datatypes Second Edition"
Paul V. Biron, and Ashok Malhotra.
(See http://www.w3.org/TR/xmlschema-2/)
XML Schema Structures
W3C (World Wide Web Consortium). "XML Schema Part 1: Structures Second Edition"
Henry S. Thompson, David Beech, Murray Maloney, and Noah Mendelsohn.
(See http://www.w3.org/TR/xmlschema-1/)

Appendix B Intellectual property status (non-normative)

This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are included on all such copies and derivative works. However, this document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing the copyright notice or references to XBRL International or XBRL organizations, except as required to translate it into languages other than English. Members of XBRL International agree to grant certain licenses under the XBRL International Intellectual Property Policy (www.xbrl.org/legal).

This document and the information contained herein is provided on an "AS IS" basis and XBRL INTERNATIONAL DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

The attention of users of this document is directed to the possibility that compliance with or adoption of XBRL International specifications may require use of an invention covered by patent rights. XBRL International shall not be responsible for identifying patents for which a license may be required by any XBRL International specification, or for conducting legal inquiries into the legal validity or scope of those patents that are brought to its attention. XBRL International specifications are prospective and advisory only. Prospective users are responsible for protecting themselves against liability for infringement of patents. XBRL International takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any intellectual property or other rights that might be claimed to pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in this document or the extent to which any license under such rights might or might not be available; neither does it represent that it has made any effort to identify any such rights. Members of XBRL International agree to grant certain licenses under the XBRL International Intellectual Property Policy (www.xbrl.org/legal).

Appendix C Acknowledgements (non-normative)

This document could not have been written without the contributions of many people including the participants in the Rendering Working Group.

Appendix D Document history (non-normative)

DateAuthorDetails
29 November 2007Ian Stokes-Rees

Initial draft of Inline XBRL standard.

05 December 2007Ian Stokes-Rees

Minor changes prior to circulation.

16 December 2007Philip Allen

Addition of references to RFC 2119.

Clarifications to tuple ordering and hidden section.

Addition of open issues from Wiki.

07 January 2008Philip Allen

Changed "mf" to "ix".

Removed remaining references to microformats.

Major overhaul of numeric handling.

15 January 2008Philip Allen

Gave all inline tags the ix: namespace name.

Revised entire document to specify syntax and processing separately.

16 January 2008Philip Allen

Added ix:exclude and applied to ix:nonNumeric.{value}.

Relaxed content model for ix:nonNumeric.

17 January 2008Philip Allen

Changed ref/id to tupleRef/tupleID respectively.

Removed dependency on Conformant Processor in definition of Inline XBRL Document.

Changed a couple of musts to MUST.

Removed unneccessary addressing REQUIREMENT for ix:header.

21 January 2008Philip Allen

Fixed spelling typo.

Changed content models for ix:hidden and ix:fraction.

Removed unitRef from 10.2.2 (nonNumeric).

Put xbrli:context and xbrli:unit into xbrli:xbrl.

Redefined Markup Element.

Fixed namespaces on ix:hidden content model.

Fixed broken {text content} model for ix:nonFraction.

Introduced multiple Target Documents.

Added explanatory note on multiple Target Documents.

Added rule to prevent tuples crossing multiple Target Documents.

Added boilerplate for Draft PWD.

08 February 2008Philip Allen

Clarified the wording around the {target} property and the creation of Target Documents.

Introduced Inline XBRL Document Set to clarify the handling of multiple Inline XBRL Documents.

Changed ix:name to QName. [WCH]

Changed ix:target to NCName. [WCH]

Replaced xbrli:xbrl with ix:references and ix:resources.

Fixed content models.

14 February 2008Ian Stokes-Rees

Updated text to be as close to schema-compatible as possible.

26 February 2008Philip Allen

Changed ix:target back to string. [IJS]

Added definitions for ix:denominator and ix:numerator. [IJS]

Corrected xbrli:id to id. [PDW]

Removed namespace from contextRef. [IJS]

Removed namespace from unitRef. [IJS]

Removed namespace from decimals. [IJS]

Removed namespace from precision. [IJS]

Added text nodes to ix:fraction. [WCH]

Added text nodes to ix:exclude. [WCH]

12 March 2008Philip Allen

Fixed camel-casing in example #4. [Bill Palmer]

Added verbiage around the use of ix:target and changed back to NCName.

Corrected depreciation figure in example #3. [Bill Palmer]

24 April 2008Philip Allen

Added note to the effect that xl:title is abstract.

Changed content rule for ix:footnoteLink.

30 April 2008Philip Allen

Completed property representations for ix:footnoteLink.

Corrected reference for extended links.

09 May 2008Philip Allen

Added appendix describing relationship with other specifications.

Added references relating to the new appendix.

Made the Transformation Rules non-normative and introduced a forthcoming registry specification.

Added Validating Conformant Processor.

Added ix:footnoteRefs to ix:footnoteLink.

Added {footnotes} and {footnote refs} properties.

10 May 2008Walter Hamscher

Corrected the output types in the Transformation Rules table.

Grammatical and typo corrections to new appendix.

14 May 2008Hugh Wallis

Updated for release as third public working draft.

27 May 2008Philip Allen

Added schema validate must to definition of Validating Conformant Processor.

Removed reference to Schematron.

Added reference to the normative Schema.

30 May 2008Philip Allen

Replaced IDREF(S) with NCName.

Added validation rules to match each NCName to an appropriate ID type.

04 June 2008Walter Hamscher

Described relationship to requirements.

Corrected concept-footnote to fact-footnote, specify “HTML” head, other typos.

Corrected wording about transformation rules’ role in turning Inline XBRL content into items whose content is valid in the Target document.

11 June 2008Philip Allen

Tidied up Conventions section.

16 June 2008Philip Allen

Clarified XHTML validation requirement.

Reworded the application of {footnote references}.

Clarified scope of ix:tupleRef behaviour.

Removed requirement for sequential values for tuple ordering.

Moved non-validatable constraints on ix:header into separate section.

Moved non-validatable constraints on ix:hidden into separate section.

17 June 2008Philip Allen

Changed footnoteLink table to ix:footnoteLink table.

Changed xl:id to id.

Removed validation rule referring to s.3.5.3 because it is covered by the schema.

Clarified the definition of {footnotes}.

Corrected xl:loc to link:loc.

Simplified the mapping rule for ix:footnoteLink.

Re-allocated certain constraints as validation rules.

Clarified that certain validation rules apply to the Document Set.

18 June 2008Philip Allen

Changed "one and only one" to "exactly one" everywhere.

Refactored ix:tuple rules to make use of the {tuple content} property.

Made ix:order required all tuple children.

23 June 2008Philip Allen

Merged 3.3 and 3.4 to clarify that access to the DTS is optional.

Clarified 3.3 to ensure that only iXBRL documents with sufficient metadata can be transformed into XBRL-valid Target Documents.

25 June 2008Philip Allen

Moved list of requirements to background document.

Moved relationship to other specifications to background document.

27 June 2008Philip Allen

Changed ix:order to decimal to bring it into line with XBRL order attribute.

10 July 2008Hugh Wallis

Editorial for publication as Candidate Recommendation.

Appendix E Errata corrections in this document

This appendix contains a list of the errata that have been incorporated into this document. This represents all those errata corrections that have been approved by the XBRL International Rendering Working Group up to and including 30 June 2008. Hyperlinks to relevant e-mail threads may only be followed by those who have access to the relevant mailing lists. Access to internal XBRL mailing lists is restricted to members of XBRL International Inc.

No errata have been incorporated into this document.