<media> Media Object

Description of and pointer to an external file that holds a media object (for example, an animation, an audio file, or a movie).

Usage/Remarks

Media Content

The “content” of the <media> element is not the media object itself, but information concerning the object. The external file that contains the object is named by the @xlink:href attribute.

Media Placement

The @position attribute may be used to indicate whether this element must be anchored at its exact location within the text or whether it may float, but Best Practice is to anchor graphics and media objects. The few media objects that occur within the narrative text should be anchored in place, and all the media objects inside figures, tables, etc., should be anchored as well, although the outer structure (figure, boxed text) may be allowed to float.

Best Practice Usage

Display component elements, such as <caption>, should always be used at the highest possible level; in other words, if a <media> element is inside a <fig>, the <caption>, <long-desc>, etc., should be part of the <fig>, not part of the <media>. Use a <caption> element on a <media> only when the media object is not enclosed in any other structure or when a figure contains multiple media objects, each of which must have its own <caption>. For similar reasons, the @position attribute should be set to “anchor” for a <media> element that is inside a larger display container such as a <fig>.

When Content is a Form

Two attributes are available to describe the media object when it is a form:
  • @is-form can indicate that the media object is a form. What constitutes a “form” is not defined by NISO STS.
  • @form-type can identify the type of the form. If the form is not one of the listed types, @custom-type may provide the type (see below).

Custom Form Type (@custom-type)

@form-type has as its values a fixed list of form types. If your form is not one of the listed types, you can use @custom-type to describe the form type. Set the value of @form-type to “custom” and also use @custom-type to hold any form type you require. For example:
<media is-form="form" form-type="custom" 
    custom-type="template" xlink:href="..."/>
Related Elements
This Suite contains several elements that describe and point to non-XML material: <graphic>, <inline-graphic>, <media>, and <inline-media>. The elements <graphic> and <inline-graphic> contain a pointer to a still image (such as a photograph, diagram, line drawing, etc.) that is part of the document. The elements <media> and <inline-media> contain a pointer to a non-XML, frequently binary, object (such as a movie, audio clip, dataset, pronunciation file, or other non-XML format).
Attributes

Base Attributes

Linking Attributes

xlink:href (REQUIRED)
xlink:type (fixed value = simple)

Namespaces

xmlns:xlink (fixed value = http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink)
Models and Context
May be contained in
Description
Content Model
<!ELEMENT  media        %media-model;                                >
Expanded Content Model

(alt-text | long-desc | abstract | email | ext-link | uri | caption | legend | attrib | permissions | object-id | label | kwd-group | subj-group)*

Related Resources