Wireless Abstract XML (WAX) is an abstract markup language and associated tools that facilitate wireless application development. WAX comes as an integral part of Morphis, an open source transcoding platform from Kargo, Inc. Because WAX tags perform at a higher level of abstraction than those of earlier wireless markup languages, WAX translates to common languages, such as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML
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), Wireless Markup Language (WML), and Handheld Device Markup Language (HDML) through Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) style sheets and XSL Transformations (XSLT).
The major features of WAX include: the WAX language itself; translation stylesheets, which are used to translate the WAX language into the most suitable language for the requesting device; the device registry, which includes an XML database of device particulars; dynamic image and text selection, which allows content to be written a single time for multiple transformations; and the application foundation, a WAX servlet that creates a foundation for WAX applications. Kargo claims that WAX transforms content for various wireless graphical user interfaces (GUIs) more easily and seamlessly than other wireless languages. WAX tags have complex and variable functionality: for example, a single tag can create different display options on separate devices. Because WAX is an extensible language, elements of other languages can easily be incorporated into applications.