PresentationML

A PresentationML document is described by a presentation part. The presentation part is the target of the package relationship whose type is:

http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships/officeDocument

The presentation refers to these primary constructs (§3:4.2), which we list from top to bottom in the default hierarchy:

  • slide masters, notes masters, and handout masters (§3:4.2.2), all of which inherit properties from presentation;

  • slide layouts (§3:4.2.5), which inherit properties from slide master; and

  • slides (§3:4.2.3) and notes pages (§3:4.2.4), which inherit properties from slide layouts and notes masters respectively.

Each master, layout, and slide is stored in its own part. The name of each part is specified in the relationship part for the presentation part. Each of the six parts other than presentation is structured in essentially the same way. A typical path from root to leaf in the XML tree would comprise these XML elements (§3:2.2):

  • sld, sldLayout, sldMaster, notes, notesMaster, or handoutMaster – the root element.

  • cSld – slide (§4:4.4.1.15). Can contain DrawingML elements (as described in the next two bullets) and other structural elements (as described below).

  • spTree –shape tree (§4:4.4.1.42). Can contain group shape properties in a grpSpPr element (§4:4.4.1.20) and non-visual group shape properties in an nvGrpSpPr element (§4:4.4.1.28). This node and its descendants are all DrawingML elements. We list some DrawingML elements here because of their pivotal role in PresentationML.

  • sp – shape (§4:4.4.1.40). Can contain shape properties in a spPr element (§4:4.4.1.41) and non-visual shape properties in an nvSpPr element (§4:4.4.1.31).

In addition to the DrawingML shape content, a cSld can contain other structural elements, depending on the root element in which it resides, as summarized in this table:

Slide

Slide Layout

Slide Master

Handout Master

Notes Master

Notes Page

Common Data

X

X

X

X

X

X

Transition

X

X

X

Timing

X

X

X

Headers and Footers

X

X

X

X

Matching Name

X

Layout Type

X

Preserve

X

X

Layout List

X

Text Style

X

Properties specified by objects lower in the default hierarchy (slide master, slide layout, slide) override the corresponding properties specified by objects higher in the hierarchy. For example, if a transition is not specified for a slide, then it is taken from the slide layout; if it is not specified there, then it is taken from the slide master.