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Diffstat (limited to 'htdocs/docs/users.html')
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1 files changed, 70 insertions, 54 deletions
diff --git a/htdocs/docs/users.html b/htdocs/docs/users.html index ae5ecf6..1cd6f6f 100755 --- a/htdocs/docs/users.html +++ b/htdocs/docs/users.html @@ -1,10 +1,16 @@ -<!--#set var="revision" value="\$Id: users.html,v 1.17 2003-05-24 20:32:46 link Exp $" ---><!--#set var="date" value="\$Date: 2003-05-24 20:32:46 $" +<!--#set var="revision" value="\$Id: users.html,v 1.18 2004-05-09 15:56:50 link Exp $" +--><!--#set var="date" value="\$Date: 2004-05-09 15:56:50 $" --><!--#set var="title" value="User Documentation for The W3C Markup Validation Service" --><!--#set var="relroot" value="../" --><!--#include virtual="../header.html" --> + +<div class="doc"> + +<h2>User's guide for the W3C Markup Validator</h2> + +<h3 id="TableOfContents">Table of contents</h3> + <div id="toc"> - <h2 id="TableOfContents">Table of contents</h2> <ul> <li><a href="#Quickstart">Quick Start</a></li> <li><a href="#Introduction">Introduction</a></li> @@ -17,7 +23,7 @@ </div> <div id="Quickstart"> - <h2 id="skip">Quick Start</h2> + <h3><a id="skip" name="skip"></a>Quick Start</h3> <p> Just type (or Cut&Paste) the URL for the page you want to validate into the text field on the form and press the "Validate this page" @@ -32,7 +38,7 @@ </div> <div id="Introduction" class="stb"> - <h2>Introduction</h2> + <h3>Introduction</h3> <p> The W3C Markup Validation Service is a web gateway to a well known SGML parser called SP. SP will take your HTML and compare it to a set of @@ -56,7 +62,7 @@ </div> <div id="Options" class="stb"> - <h2>The Options</h2> + <h3>The Options</h3> <p> In addition to the text field where you enter an URL -- or the file selection field if you are uploading files -- there are a few @@ -66,69 +72,75 @@ </p> <dl> - <dt id="option-charset">Encoding</dt> + <dt><a id="option-charset" name="option-charset"></a>Encoding</dt> <dd> - This allows you to <strong>override</strong> the character encoding + <p>This allows you to <strong>override</strong> the character encoding information about your document. You may use this option for test purposes, but you will eventually have to serve your document with the correct character encoding, or the validator will <a href="help#faq-charset">complain</a> - about it and you document will not be valid. + about it and you document will not be valid.</p> </dd> - <dt id="option-fbc">Use Fallback instead of Override (Encoding) (<code>fbc</code>)</dt> + <dt><a id="option-fbc" name="option-fbc"></a>Use Fallback instead of Override (Encoding) (<code>fbc</code>)</dt> <dd> - Uses the <a href="#option-charset">character encoding override</a> mechanism + <p>Uses the <a href="#option-charset">character encoding override</a> mechanism described above, but only does it as a fall back mechanism if the actual document is not served with character encoding information. Think of this as a gentler - override mechanism. + override mechanism.</p> </dd> - <dt id="option-doctype">Type</dt> + <dt><a id="option-doctype" name="option-doctype"></a>Type</dt> <dd> - This allows you to <strong>override</strong> the DOCTYPE declaration for you + <p>This allows you to <strong>override</strong> the DOCTYPE declaration for you document. You may use this option for test purposes, but you will eventually have to serve your document with the correct character encoding, or the validator will <a href="help#faq-doctype">complain</a> - about it and you document will not be valid. + about it and you document will not be valid.</p> </dd> - <dt id="option-fbc">Use Fallback instead of Override (Type) (<code>fbd</code>)</dt> + <dt><a id="option-fbd" name="option-fbd"></a>Use Fallback instead of Override (Type) (<code>fbd</code>)</dt> <dd> - Uses the <a href="#option-doctype">Doctype override</a> mechanism + <p>Uses the <a href="#option-doctype">Doctype override</a> mechanism described above, but only does it as a fall back mechanism if the actual document - does not have a Doctype declaration. Think of this as a gentler override mechanism. + does not have a Doctype declaration. Think of this as a gentler override mechanism.</p> </dd> - <dt id="option-ss">Show source input (<code>ss</code>)</dt> + <dt><a id="option-ss" name="option-ss"></a>Show source input (<code>ss</code>)</dt> <dd> - Displays the HTML source of the document you validated and links + <p>Displays the HTML source of the document you validated and links error messages directly to lines in this output. Makes it easy to - see what's wrong. + see what's wrong.</p> </dd> - <dt id="option-outline">Show an outline of this document (<code>outline</code>)</dt> + <dt><a id="option-outline" name="option-outline"></a>Show an outline of this document (<code>outline</code>)</dt> <dd> - Will generate an outline of your document from the H1 - H6 elements. + <p>Will generate an outline of your document from the H1 - H6 elements. For a properly formed document, this will be a nicely nested tree structure. The visualization of your document's structure makes it - easier to see where you've skipped a heading. + easier to see where you've skipped a heading.</p> </dd> - <dt id="option-sp">Show parse tree (<code>sp</code>)</dt> + <dt><a id="option-sp" name="option-sp"></a>Show parse tree (<code>sp</code>)</dt> <dd> - Shows you exactly how the SGML Parser read your document. Probably + <p>Shows you exactly how the SGML Parser read your document. Probably best used only by advanced users as it deals with low-level SGML - constructs. + constructs.</p> </dd> - <dt id="option-noatt">exclude attributes from the parse tree (<code>noatt</code>)</dt> - <dd>Suppress attributes from the <a href="#option-sp">parse tree</a> to make it - more readable.</dd> - <dt id="option-no200">Validate error pages</dt> - <dd>The Markup Validator will usually tell you if the page you tried to validate - could not be retrieved (for example, if the server gave a "404 not found" message. - In some circumstances you may want to be able to validate the error page sent by - the server. This is the option to use then. + <dt><a id="option-noatt" name="option-noatt"></a>exclude attributes from the parse tree (<code>noatt</code>)</dt> + <dd> + <p>Suppress attributes from the <a href="#option-sp">parse tree</a> to make it + more readable.</p> </dd> - <dt id="option-verbose">Verbose Output</dt> - <dd>This option triggers verbose output. By default the validator will only output - the validity result if the document is valid, but you may want to have the rest of - the information (outline, etc.). This is the option to use then. + <dt><a id="option-no200" name="option-no200"></a>Validate error pages</dt> + <dd> + <p>The Markup Validator will usually tell you if the page you tried to validate + could not be retrieved (for example, if the server gave a "404 not found" message. + In some circumstances you may want to be able to validate the error page sent by + the server. This is the option to use then.</p> + </dd> + <dt><a id="option-verbose" name="option-verbose"></a>Verbose Output</dt> + <dd> + <p>This option triggers verbose output. By default the validator will only output + the validity result if the document is valid, but you may want to have more + information. This is the option to use then. The verbose output also provides helpful + explanations in addition to the error messages, which makes it a generally useful + option. </p> </dd> @@ -136,7 +148,7 @@ </div> <div id="Calling" class="stb"> - <h2>Calling/Linking to the Validator</h2> + <h3>Calling/Linking to the Validator</h3> <p> You can link directly to the Validator home page, or you can call the Validator CGI program. The home page is <<a @@ -148,7 +160,7 @@ <p> If you call the CGI program with extra path info matching "/referer" (i.e. <<a href="http://validator.w3.org/check/referer">http://validator.w3.org/check/referer</a>>) - it will fetch the refering document and validate that. This means that + it will fetch the referring document and validate that. This means that if you embed a link to that URL in your pages, following on that link will send you the validation results for that page. </p> @@ -174,7 +186,7 @@ </div> <div id="Interpret" class="stb"> - <h2>Interpreting the results</h2> + <h3>Interpreting the results</h3> <p> In spite of our efforts, interpreting the Markup Validator's error messages isn't quite what you'd call easy. The error messages are generated in the @@ -197,7 +209,7 @@ we can validate to see for ourselves. </p> <div id="Output" class="stb"> - <h3>Output Options</h3> + <h4>Output Options</h4> <p> In addition to the HTML output intended for human consumption in a browser, the Validator has some experimental features to generate @@ -212,7 +224,7 @@ may well be removed or disabled at any time. They are provided now to garner public feedback to determine how best to support this functionality in the future. One particularly likely option being - considered is removing these features alltogether in favor of a + considered is removing these features altogether in favor of a full-blown SOAP interface. <em>You have been warned!</em> </p> <dl> @@ -268,7 +280,7 @@ elements may appear more then once. </p> <div id="dtd-meta"> - <h4>The <code>meta</code> element</h4> + <h5>The <code>meta</code> element</h5> <p> The <code>meta</code> element contains various metadata about about the Validated document. It contains further elements @@ -295,7 +307,7 @@ </p> </div> <div id="dtd-warnings"> - <h4>The <code>warnings</code> element</h4> + <h5>The <code>warnings</code> element</h5> <p> The <code>warnings</code> element can contain only one sub-element; the <code>warning</code> element. Multiple <code>warning</code> @@ -305,7 +317,7 @@ </p> </div> <div id="dtd-messages"> - <h4>The <code>messages</code> element.</h4> + <h5>The <code>messages</code> element.</h5> <p> The <code>messages</code> element can contain only one sub-element; the <code>msg</code> element. Multiple <code>msg</code> elements @@ -324,7 +336,7 @@ </div> <div id="CommaTools"> - <h2>Comma Tools / Site Tools</h2> + <h3>Comma Tools / Site Tools</h3> <p> This site uses "comma tools", as does <a href="http://www.w3.org/,tools">W3C</a> and other sites. This means you can append a string (starting with a comma, hence @@ -422,17 +434,21 @@ </div> <div id="Installing" class="stb"> - <h2>Installing a local Validator</h2> + <h3>Installing a local Validator</h3> <p> - You can download the Validator to run on your own system, but it's not - recommended for average users as the process is rather complex and - involves obscure incantations on the command line. <tt>:-)</tt> + You can download the Validator to run on your own system. For Web design departments + or agencies it can be a very good idea, saving time and allowing you to not send + documents under work or confidential pages over the wire, but it is a complex operation, + and is not recommended for average users, for which the free online service at W3C + should suffice. </p> <p> - If you feel you're up to the task, you can find the information you need - in our <a href="devel.html">Developer Manual</a>. + We have created a simple <a href="install.html">Installation manual</a>, which, along with + the <a href="devel.html">Developer's information</a>, should help you install a local instance + of the Markup Validator in your own network easily. </p> </div> +</div> <!--#include virtual="../footer.html" --> </body> |