HTML <rb> Tag
The HTML <rb>
tag marks the base text component of a ruby annotation.
Ruby annotations are often used in East Asian typography.
Ruby (also spelt rubi) characters are small, annotative glosses that can be placed above or to the right of a Chinese character when writing logographic languages such as Chinese or Japanese to show the pronunciation. Ruby annotations, are usually used as a pronunciation guide for relatively obscure characters.
The <rb>
element does not represent anything itself, but its parent <ruby>
element uses it as part of determining what it represents.
Syntax
The <rb>
tag is written as <rb>
</rb>
with the base text component inserted between the start and end tags.
Like this:
It is OK to omit the end tag is certain circumstances (see the "Omitting the End Tag" heading below). Like this:
Examples
Basic tag usage
Omitting the End Tag
An <rb>
element's end tag may be omitted if the <rb>
element is immediately followed by an <rb>
, <rt>
, <rtc>
or <rp>
element, or if there is no more content in the parent element.
Also, the <rt>
element's end tag may be omitted if the <rt>
element is immediately followed by an <rb>
, <rt>
, <rtc>
or <rp>
element, or if there is no more content in the parent element.
Therefore, the following example conforms to HTML5.
Explicit vs Implied Base
When the <rb>
tag is not used, the base is implied. However, you can also make it explicit (by using the <rb>
tag).
Therefore, the following code...
...has the same meaning as this...
The only difference between the above examples is that the base is explicit in the former, implied in the later. This makes the <rb>
tag useful for styling, or when consecutive bases are to be treated as a group.
Attributes
Attributes can be added to an HTML element to provide more information about how the element should appear or behave.
There are 3 kinds of attributes that you can add to your HTML tags: Element-specific, global, and event handler content attributes.
The <rb>
element accepts the following attributes.
Element-Specific Attributes
This table shows the attributes that are specific to the <rb>
tag/element.
Attribute | Description |
---|---|
none |
Global Attributes
The following attributes are standard across all HTML5 elements. Therefore, you can use these attributes with the <rb>
tag , as well as with all other HTML tags.
- accesskey
- class
- contenteditable
- contextmenu
- dir
- draggable
- dropzone
- hidden
- id
- inert
- itemid
- itemprop
- itemref
- itemscope
- itemtype
- lang
- spellcheck
- style
- tabindex
- title
- translate
For a full explanation of these attributes, see HTML 5 global attributes.
Event Handler Content Attributes
Event handler content attributes enable you to invoke a script from within your HTML. The script is invoked when a certain "event" occurs. Each event handler content attribute deals with a different event.
Below are the standard HTML5 event handler content attributes.
Again, you can use any of these with the <rb>
element, as well as any other HTML5 element.
- onabort
- oncancel
- onblur
- oncanplay
- oncanplaythrough
- onchange
- onclick
- oncontextmenu
- ondblclick
- ondrag
- ondragend
- ondragenter
- ondragexit
- ondragleave
- ondragover
- ondragstart
- ondrop
- ondurationchange
- onemptied
- onended
- onerror
- onfocus
- onformchange
- onforminput
- oninput
- oninvalid
- onkeydown
- onkeypress
- onkeyup
- onload
- onloadeddata
- onloadedmetadata
- onloadstart
- onmousedown
- onmousemove
- onmouseout
- onmouseover
- onmouseup
- onmousewheel
- onpause
- onplay
- onplaying
- onprogress
- onratechange
- onreadystatechange
- onscroll
- onseeked
- onseeking
- onselect
- onshow
- onstalled
- onsubmit
- onsuspend
- ontimeupdate
- onvolumechange
- onwaiting
For a full explanation of these attributes, see HTML 5 event handler content attributes.
Differences Between HTML 4 & HTML 5
The <rb>
tag is new in HTML5 (W3C), however, it is not supported by the WHATWG HTML Living Standard.
For more detail on the element, see HTML5 <rb>
Tag. Also check out the links to the official specifications below.
Template
Here's a template for the <rb>
tag with all available attributes for the tag (based on HTML5). These are grouped into attribute types, each type separated by a space. In many cases, you will probably only need one or two (if any) attributes. Simply remove the attributes you don't need.
Note that the <rb>
element does not actually have any local attributes (i.e. attributes that are specific to the element), but the following global attributes and event handlers are available to the element (and all other HTML elements).
For more information on attributes for this tag, see HTML5 <rb>
Tag.
Tag Details
For more details about the <rb>
tag, see HTML5 <rb>
Tag.
Specifications
Here are the official specifications for the <rb>
element.
- HTML5 Specification (W3C)
- Current W3C Draft (the next version that is currently being worked on)
What's the Difference?
W3C creates "snapshot" specifications that don't change once defined. So the HTML5 specification won't change once it becomes an official recommendation. WHATWG on the other hand, develops a "living standard" that is updated on a regular basis. In general, you will probably find that the HTML living standard will be more closely aligned to the current W3C draft than to the HTML5 specification.