This page lists all TBX elements as given in the TBX core RNG schema (https://github.com/LTAC-Global/TBX_Core_RNG). The format of this page is patterned after the HTML elements reference created by Mozilla as part of the MDN web docs. Descriptions given here are purely informative and are not authoritative.
Namespace
All core elements must be in the namespace ‘urn:iso:std:iso:30042:ed-2‘. This namespace is for TBX version 2, even though it is only the second edition from the perspective of ISO. TBX version 1 was published by the now defunct LISA (Localization Industry Standards Association).
Note that in XML, a default namespace is only required on the root element (where a default namespace exists). Descendants of the root element will inherit the default namespace.
In DCT, data categories used as element names come from the namespace of the module from which that data category is imported (i.e., <partOfSpeech> have the namespace of the Min module, if imported from Min).
Root Element
| Element | Description |
| <tbx> | The TBX <tbx> element is the root element of tbx files. |
Entity Elements
Entities are logical groupings of elements which often occur together as permitted children. Elements may belong to more than one entity.
*Note, the inline markup elements are also entity elements, but they have been separated due to their unique relationship with XLIFF.
| Element | Entity Grouping(s) | Description |
| <admin> | auxInfo, noteLinkInfo | The TBX <admin> element contains administrative information about the content of the element to which it refers (e.g., a <term> or a <note>, etc.). |
| <adminGrp> | auxInfo, noteLinkInfo | The TBX <adminGrp> element is a container for an <admin> element and supplementary information about that <admin> element. |
| <descrip> | auxInfo | The TBX <descrip> element contains descriptive information about the content of the element to which it refers (e.g., <term>). |
| <descripGrp> | auxInfo | The TBX <descripGrp> element is a container for an <admin> element and supplementary information about that <descrip> element. |
| <foreign> | noteText | The TBX <foreign> element contains a text value. |
| <hi> | basicText, noteText | The TBX <hi> element is an inline markup element which can be used to indicate highlighting. |
| <note> | auxInfo, noteLinkInfo | The TBX <note> element is used for notes. In some cases of converting from one dialect of TBX to another dialect which lacks support for certain data categories, it has become best practice to store the unsupported data category information in a note. In such scenarios, the name of the data category appears at the beginning of a note, followed by two colon characters, followed by the text content of that data category. This facilitates more accurate backward conversion from the latter TBX document to the former (should it be necessary).
Example: <note>partOfSpeech::noun</note> |
| <ref> | auxInfo, noteLinkInfo | The TBX <ref> element is used to reference other elements within the TBX document. |
| <transacGrp> | auxInfo, noteLinkInfo | The TBX <transacGrp> element is a container for a <transac> element and supplementary information about that <transac> element. |
| <xref> | auxInfo, noteLinkInfo | The TBX <xref> element is used to reference information external to the TBX document via URI. |
Inline Markup Elements From XLIFF 2.0
Most inline markup elements in TBX v3 have been changed to be compliant with practices in XLIFF 2.0 (see Summary of Changes in ISO 30042).
While they are defined as in XLIFF, in TBX they still maintain the TBX namespace and may not support all attributes.
| Element | Entity Grouping(s) | Description |
| <ec> | noteText | See XLIFF 2.0 |
| <ph> | noteText | See XLIFF 2.0 |
| <sc> | noteText | See XLIFF 2.0 |
Other Elements
| Element | Description |
| <adminNote> | The TBX <adminNote> element contains note information specific to an <admin> element. |
| <back> | The TBX <back> element is the root element for the back matter section of a TBX document. |
| <body> | The TBX <body> element is the root element for the body section of a TBX document and contains all of the <conceptEntry> elements of the TBX document. |
| <change> | The TBX <change> element contains one or more <p> elements which detail changes made to the TBX document (or the termbase from which it was exported). |
| <conceptEntry> | The TBX <conceptEntry> is a container for concept level information, including all <langSec> elements belonging to that concept. |
| <date> | The TBX <date> element contains a date according to xs:date. |
| <descripNote> | The TBX <descripNote> element contains note information speicific to a <descrip> element. |
| <encodingDesc> | The TBX <encodingDesc> element originally contained information about an XCS file (see Introduction to TermBase eXchange). |
| <fileDesc> | The TBX <fileDesc> element contains information about the TBX document itself, including its title, publication information, and origins. |
| <item> | The TBX <item> element contains back matter text which is supplemental to the terminological information found within the TBX document. |
| <itemGrp> | The TBX <itemGrp> element is a container for the <item> element when it is accompanied by supplementary information (such as an <admin> entry). |
| <itemSet> | The TBX <itemSet> element is a container for any instances of <item> and/or <itemGrp> which are related to one another. |
| <langSec> | The TBX <langSec> element is a container for language level information, including all <termSec> elements belonging to that language (within the same terminological concept). |
| <note> | The TBX <note> element contains note text which provides usually provides information about either its parent element, or its sibling element(s). In some cases to prevent data loss in conversion, it has become best practice to store the contents of unsupported data categories as <note> elements using the following convention:
<note>[DataCategoryName]::[Data Category text content]</note> Example: <note>partOfSpeech::noun</note> |
| <p> | The TBX <p> element contains text content and inline markup. The subject of the content may differ depending on the parent of the <p> element. |
| <publicationStmt> | The TBX <publicationStmt> element contains publication information about the TBX document. |
| <refObject> | The TBX <refObject> element is a grouping container for related <item>, <itemGrp>, and <itemSet> elements in the back mater. |
| <refObjectSec> | The TBX <refObjectSec> element is a container for all <refObject> elments in the TBX document. |
| <revisionDesc> | The TBX <revisionDesc> element is a container for a list of <change> elements, which records the changes which have been made to the TBX document (or the termbase from which it was exported). |
| <sourceDesc> | The TBX <sourceDesc> element contains information about the origins of a TBX document. |
| <tbxHeader> | The TBX <tbxHeader> element is the root element for TBX header information. |
| <term> | The TBX <term> element contains a single term. |
| <termNote> | The TBX <termNote> element contains note information specific to a <termNote> element. |
| <termNoteGrp> | The TBX <termNoteGrp> element contains a single <termNote> element and any supplementary information about that <termNote> element. |
| <termSec> | The TBX <termSec> element is a container for term level information, including a single <term> any other elements which provide more information or context about that term. |
| <text> | The TBX <text> element is a structural container for either <body> and/or <back>. |
| <title> | The TBX <title> element contains a title for the TBX document (or the termbase from which it was exported). |
| <titleStmt> | The TBX <titleStmt> element is a container for the <title> element and any <note> elements that may be relevant. |
| <tbxHeader> | The TBX <tbxHeader> element is a structural container for information about the TBX file. |
| <transac> | The TBX <transac> element is a container for transactional information (the exact information depends on the data category associated with the <transac> element). |
| <transacNote> | The TBX <transacNote> element contains note information specific to a <transacNote> element. |
Element Descriptions
*Data types prefixed with “xs” refer to XML Schema Datatypes
<admin>
The TBX <admin> element contains administrative information about the content of the element to which it refers (e.g., a <term> or a <note>, etc.).
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| type (required) | xs:string – contains the data category name (in camel case) |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
| lang (optional) | xs:language |
| target (optional) | xs:IDREF |
| datatype (optional) | xs:string |
Child Elements
May contain zero or more of any noteText entity elements (<ec>, <foreign>, <hi>, <ph>, <sc>).
Content
<adminGrp>
The TBX <adminGrp> element is a container for an <admin> element and supplementary information about that <admin> element.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
Child Elements
Must contain one <admin> element. May contain zero or more of <adminNote>, <note>, <ref>, and/or <xref>.
Content
N/A
<adminNote>
The TBX <adminNote> element contains note information specific to an <admin> element.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| type (required) | xs:string – contains the data category name (in camel case) |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
| lang (optional) | xs:language |
| target (optional) | xs:IDREF |
| datatype (optional) | xs:string |
Child Elements
N/A
Content
<back>
The TBX <back> element is the root element for the back matter section of a TBX document.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
Child Elements
May contain zero or more <refObjectSec> elements.
Content
N/A
<body>
The TBX <body> element is the root element for the body section of a TBX document and contains all of the <conceptEntry> elements of the TBX document.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
Child Elements
Must contain one or more <conceptEntry> element.
Content
N/A
<change>
The TBX <change> element contains one or more <p> elements which detail changes made to the TBX document (or the termbase from which it was exported).
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
| lang (optional) | xs:language |
Child Elements
Must contain one or more <p> elements.
Content
N/A
<conceptEntry>
The TBX <conceptEntry> is a container for concept level information, including all <langSec> elements belonging to that concept.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (required) | xs:ID |
Child Elements
May contain auxInfo entity elements (zero or more of <admin>, <adminGrp>, <descrip>, <descripGrp>, <note>, <ref>, <transacGrp>, and/or <xref>). Must contain one or more <langSec> elements (after the auxInfo elements, if they are used).
Content
N/A
<date>
The TBX <date> element contains a date according to xs:date.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
Child Elements
N/A
Content
<descrip>
The TBX <descrip> element contains descriptive information about the content of the element to which it refers (e.g., <term>).
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| type (required) | xs:string – contains the data category name (in camel case) |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
| lang (optional) | xs:language |
| target (optional) | xs:IDREF |
| datatype (optional) | xs:string |
Child Elements
May contain zero or more of any noteText entity elements (<ec>, <foreign>, <hi>, <ph>, <sc>).
Content
<descripGrp>
The TBX <descripGrp> element is a container for an <admin> element and supplementary information about that <descrip> element.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
Child Elements
Must contain one <descrip> element. May contain zero or more of <admin>, <adminGrp>, <descripNote>, <note>, <ref>, <transacGrp>, and/or <xref>.
Content
N/A
<descripNote>
The TBX <descripNote> element contains note information speicific to a <descrip> element.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| type (required) | xs:string – contains the data category name (in camel case) |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
| lang (optional) | xs:language |
| target (optional) | xs:IDREF |
| datatype (optional) | xs:string |
Child Elements
N/A
Content
<ec>
See XLIFF 2.0
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| startRef (optional) | xs:IDREF |
| isolated (optional) | must be either “yes” or “no” |
| disp (optional) | xs:string |
| equiv (optional) | xs:string |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
| type | permitted values: “fmt”, “ui”, “quote”, “link”, “image”, “other” |
| subtype (optional) | xs:string |
| target (optional) | xs:string |
Child Elements
N/A
Content
N/A
<encodingDesc>
The TBX <encodingDesc> element originally contained information about an XCS file (see Introduction to TermBase eXchange).
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
Child Elements
Must contain one or more <p> elements.
Content
N/A
<fileDesc>
The TBX <fileDesc> element contains information about the TBX document itself, including its title, publication information, and origins.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
Child Elements
Must contain zero or more <publicationStmt> elements, followed by zero or more <titleStmt> elements, followed by one <sourceDesc>.
Content
N/A
<foreign>
The TBX <foreign> element contains a text value.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
| lang (optional) | xs:language |
Child Elements
N/A
Content
<hi>
The TBX <hi> element is an inline markup element which can be used to indicate highlighting.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| target | xs:IDREF |
| type | permitted values: “entailedTerm”, “hotkey”, “italics”, “bold”, “superscript”, “subscript”, “math” |
Child Elements
N/A
Content
<item>
The TBX <item> element contains back matter text which is supplemental to the terminological information found within the TBX document.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
| type (optional) | xs:string |
Child Elements
May contain zero or more of any noteText entity elements (<ec>, <foreign>, <hi>, <ph>, <sc>).
Content
<itemGrp>
The TBX <itemGrp> element is a container for the <item> element when it is accompanied by supplementary information (such as an <admin> entry).
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
Child Elements
May contain zero or more of any noteLinkInfo entity elements (<admin>, <adminGrp>, <note>, <ref>, <transacGrp>, <xref>).
Content
N/A
<itemSet>
The TBX <itemSet> element is a container for any instances of <item> and/or <itemGrp> which are related to one another.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
| type (optional) | xs:string |
Child Elements
Must contain one or more of <itemGrp> and/or <item>.
Content
N/A
<langSec>
The TBX <langSec> element is a container for language level information, including all <termSec> elements belonging to that language (within the same terminological concept).
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| xml:lang (required) | xs:language |
Child Elements
May contain auxInfo entity elements (zero or more of <admin>, <adminGrp>, <descrip>, <descripGrp>, <note>, <ref>, <transacGrp>, and/or <xref>). Must contain one or more <termSec> elements (after the auxInfo elements, if they are used).
Content
N/A
<note>
The TBX <note> element contains note text which provides usually provides information about either its parent element, or its sibling element(s). In some cases to prevent data loss in conversion, it has become best practice to store the contents of unsupported data categories as <note> elements using the following convention:
<note>[DataCategoryName]::[Data Category text content]</note>
Example:
<note>partOfSpeech::noun</note>
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
| lang (optional) | xs:language |
Child Elements
May contain zero or more of any noteText entity elements (<ec>, <foreign>, <hi>, <ph>, <sc>).
Content
<p>
The TBX <p> element contains text content and inline markup. The subject of the content may differ depending on the parent of the <p> element.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
| lang (optional) | xs:language |
Child Elements
May contain zero or more of any noteText entity elements (<ec>, <foreign>, <hi>, <ph>, <sc>).
Content
<ph>
See XLIFF 2.0
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| type (optional) | xs:string |
Child Elements
N/A
Content
N/A
<publicationStmt>
The TBX <publicationStmt> element contains publication information about the TBX document.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
Child Elements
Must contain one or more <p> elements.
Content
N/A
<ref>
The TBX <ref> element is used to reference other elements within the TBX document.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| type (required) | xs:string – contains the data category name (in camel case) |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
| lang (optional) | xs:language |
| target (optional) | xs:IDREF |
| datatype (optional) | xs:string |
Child Elements
N/A
Content
<refObject>
The TBX <refObject> element is a grouping container for related <item>, <itemGrp>, and <itemSet> elements in the back mater.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
Child Elements
Must contain one or more <itemSet>, <itemGrp>, and/or <item>.
Content
N/A
<refObjectSec>
The TBX <refObjectSec> element is a container for all <refObject> elments in the TBX document.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| type (required) | xs:string |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
Child Elements
Must contain one or more <refObject>.
Content
N/A
<revisionDesc>
The TBX <revisionDesc> element is a container for a list of <change> elements, which records the changes which have been made to the TBX document (or the termbase from which it was exported).
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
| lang (optional) | xs:language |
Child Elements
Must contain one or more <change>.
Content
N/A
<sc>
See XLIFF 2.0
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
| isolated (optional) | must be either “yes” or “no” |
Child Elements
N/A
Content
N/A
<sourceDesc>
The TBX <sourceDesc> element contains information about the origins of a TBX document.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
| lang (optional) | xs:language |
Child Elements
Must contain one or more <p> elements.
Content
N/A
<tbx>
The TBX <tbx> element is the root element of tbx files.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| xml:lang (required) | xs:language |
| type (required) | xs:string – must match RegEx pattern /TBX-.+/ |
| style (required) | must be either “dca” or “dct” |
Child Elements
Must contain <tbxHeader>, followed by <text>.
Content
N/A
<tbxHeader>
The TBX <tbxHeader> element is the root element for TBX header information.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
Child Elements
Must contain <fileDesc>, followed by zero or more <encodingDesc>, followed by zero or more <revisionDesc>.
Content
N/A
<term>
The TBX <term> element contains a single term.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
Child Elements
May contain zero or more basicText entity elements (<hi>).
Content
<termNote>
The TBX <termNote> element contains note information specific to a <termNote> element.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| type (required) | xs:string – contains the data category name (in camel case) |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
| lang (optional) | xs:language |
| target (optional) | xs:IDREF |
| datatype (optional) | xs:string |
Child Elements
May contain zero or more of any noteText entity elements (<ec>, <foreign>, <hi>, <ph>, <sc>).
Content
<termNoteGrp>
The TBX <termNoteGrp> element contains a single <termNote> element and any supplementary information about that <termNote> element.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
Child Elements
Must contain <termNote>, followed by zero or more of any noteLinkInfo entity elements (<admin>, <adminGrp>, <note>, <ref>, <transacGrp>, <xref>).
Content
N/A
<termSec>
The TBX <termSec> element is a container for term level information, including a single <term> any other elements which provide more information or context about that term.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
Child Elements
Must contain <term>, followed by zero or more <termNote> or <termGrp> elements, followed by zero or more auxInfo entity elements (<admin>, <adminGrp>, <descrip>, <descripGrp>, <note>, <ref>, <transacGrp>, <xref>).
Content
N/A
<text>
The TBX <text> element is a structural container for either <body> and/or <back>.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
Child Elements
May contain zero or one <body> followed by zero or one <back>.
Content
N/A
<title>
The TBX <title> element contains a title for the TBX document (or the termbase from which it was exported).
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
| lang (optional) | xs:language |
Child Elements
N/A
Content
<titleStmt>
The TBX <titleStmt> element is a container for the <title> element and any <note> elements that may be relevant.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
| lang (optional) | xs:language |
Child Elements
Must contain <title>, followed by zero or more <note> elements.
Content
N/A
<transac>
The TBX <transac> element is a container for transactional information (the exact information depends on the data category associated with the <transac> element).
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| type (required) | xs:string – contains the data category name (in camel case) |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
| lang (optional) | xs:language |
| target (optional) | xs:IDREF |
| datatype (optional) | xs:string |
Child Elements
N/A
Content
<transacGrp>
The TBX <transacGrp> element is a container for a <transac> element and supplementary information about that <transac> element.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
Child Elements
Must contain <transac>, followed by zero or more of <date>, <note>, <ref>, <transacNote>, and/or <xref>.
Content
N/A
<transacNote>
The TBX <transacNote> element contains note information specific to a <transacNote> element.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| type (required) | xs:string – contains the data category name (in camel case) |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
| lang (optional) | xs:language |
| target (optional) | xs:IDREF |
| datatype (optional) | xs:string |
Child Elements
N/A
Content
<xref>
The TBX <xref> element is used to reference information external to the TBX document via URI.
Attributes:
| Name (use restriction) | Value |
| id (optional) | xs:ID |
| target (required) | xs:anyURI |
| type (required) | xs:string |
Child Elements
N/A