Microsoft Assistance Markup Language

Microsoft Assistance Markup Language (MAML) is a XML based markup language used by the Vista operating system Help. The current help system HTMLHelp 1.x is using HTML topic files. HTML is a markup language that combines presentational and semantic elements.The most significant aspect of MAML is the shift to a structured authoring model. Documents and their constituent elements are defined semantically, placing the focus on content rather than formatting. Presentation is controlled at rendering time, adding a new degree of flexibility.

MAML consists of several distinct content types, each one specific to a type of document. The MAML content types include: conceptual, FAQ, glossary, procedural, reference, reusable content, task, troubleshooting, and tutorial.

Content authored in MAML can be output to many different formats, including DHTML, XAML, RTF, and print. When MAML content is presented online, there are three levels of run-time transformation: structural, presentational, and rendering. Structural transformation uses reusable content and applies conditional logic, determining the content that will appear, and the structure of that content. The resulting MAML format document is then ready to move onto the presentational transformation stage. At this point, the content is transformed into one of the presentation formats (DHTML, XAML, or RTF). Rendering transformation is the final stage where stylesheets are applied and the content is displayed in its final form.