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+.. _configure_directive:
+
+``configure``
+-------------
+
+Because :term:`ZCML` is XML, and because XML requires a single root
+tag for each document, every ZCML file used by :mod:`repoze.bfg` must
+contain a ``configure`` container directive, which acts as the root
+XML tag.  It is a "container" directive because its only job is to
+contain other directives.
+
+Attributes
+~~~~~~~~~~
+
+``xmlns``
+
+   The default XML namespace used for subdirectives.
+
+Example
+~~~~~~~
+
+.. code-block:: xml
+   :linenos:
+
+   <configure xmlns="http://namespaces.repoze.org/bfg">
+
+      <!-- other directives -->
+
+   </configure>
+
+.. _word_on_xml_namespaces:
+
+A Word On XML Namespaces
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Usually, the start tag of the ``<configure>`` container tag has a
+default *XML namespace* associated with it. This is usually
+``http://namespaces.repoze.org/bfg``, named by the ``xmlns`` attribute
+of the ``configure`` start tag.
+
+Using the ``http://namespaces.repoze.org/bfg`` namespace as the
+default XML namespace isn't strictly necessary; you can use a
+different default namespace as the default.  However, if you do, the
+declaration tags which are defined by :mod:`repoze.bfg` such as the
+``view`` declaration tag will need to be defined in such a way that
+the XML parser that :mod:`repoze.bfg` uses knows which namespace the
+:mod:`repoze.bfg` tags are associated with.  For example, the
+following files are all completely equivalent:
+
+.. topic:: Use of A Non-Default XML Namespace
+
+  .. code-block:: xml
+     :linenos:
+
+      <configure xmlns="http://namespaces.zope.org/zope"
+                 xmlns:bfg="http://namespaces.repoze.org/bfg">
+
+        <include package="repoze.bfg.includes" />
+
+        <bfg:view
+           view="helloworld.hello_world"
+           />
+
+      </configure>
+
+.. topic:: Use of A Per-Tag XML Namespace Without A Default XML Namespace
+
+  .. code-block:: xml
+     :linenos:
+
+      <configure>
+
+        <include package="repoze.bfg.includes" />
+
+        <view xmlns="http://namespaces.repoze.org/bfg"
+           view="helloworld.hello_world"
+           />
+
+      </configure>
+
+For more information about XML namespaces, see `this older, but simple
+XML.com article <http://www.xml.com/pub/a/1999/01/namespaces.html>`_.
+
+The conventions in this document assume that the default XML namespace
+is ``http://namespaces.repoze.org/bfg``.
+
+Alternatives
+~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+None.
+
+See Also
+~~~~~~~~
+
+See also :ref:`helloworld_declarative`.
+