Vector Markup Language (VML) is an XML language used to produce vector graphics. VML was submitted as a proposed standard to the W3C in 1998 by Microsoft, Macromedia, and others. Around the same time other competing W3C submissions were received in the area of web vector graphics, such as PGML from Adobe, Sun, and others.^[1].

As a result of these submissions, a new W3C working group was created, which produced SVG.

Even though largely ignored by developers, Microsoft still implemented VML into Internet Explorer 5.0 and higher and in Microsoft Office 2000 and higher.

Google Maps currently uses VML for rendering vectors when running on Internet Explorer 5.5+.^[2]

Example

How this example would look in a capable viewer

The following code displays an oval filled in blue:

<v:oval style="position:absolute; left:0; top:0;
               width:100px; height:50px" 
               fillcolor="blue" />

The SVG equivalent for this code would be:

<ellipse cx="50" cy="25" rx="50" ry="25" fill="blue"/>

Curiously, the fillcolor attribute of VML becomes a CSS property in SVG, and the four attributes of the SVG ellipse tag become CSS properties in VML.

Software

VML is used by most Microsoft Office applications, such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Visio, etc., to create online files, while using the Save As HTML option (plain HTML or MHT, Microsoft HyperText Single File Format). Such files retain complete vector information, and can be reopened for editing using applications, such as Microsoft PowerPoint. VML is natively supported by Microsoft's Internet Explorer within inline HTML, compared to SVG that is natively supported by Firefox, Opera, and Safari inline only in XHTML mode.^[3]

Several online utilities also use VML as the primary language of choice for storing vector information in HTML.^{citation needed}

The drawing above, drawn using an online vector drawing package, keeps the detail irrespective of the resolution used in the webpage. Such vector graphics are retained in XML format, and manipulated using text, as opposed to binary data like in JPEG, PNG, or GIF.

References

See also

• Scalable Vector Graphics
• Office Open XML

External links

• W3C VML proposal
• MSDN VML Page
• Ancyra Online VML Drawing
• W3C SVG standard
• Vector Graphics Rendering Library Buffer Overflow
• Windows VML Vulnerability FAQ (CVE-2006-4868)