Editing XBRL (section)

=== XBRL Instance ===
The XBRL instance begins with the &lt;xbrl&gt; [[root element]]. There may be more than one XBRL instance embedded in a larger XML document. Xbrl Instance is also known as XBRL file. The XBRL instance itself holds the following information:
* ''Business Facts  ''&nbsp;– facts can be divided into two categories
** ''Items'' are facts holding a single value. They are represented by a single XML element with the value as its content.
** ''Tuples'' are facts holding multiple values. They are represented by a single XML element containing nested Items or Tuples.
In the design of XBRL, all Item facts must be assigned a context.
* ''Contexts'' define the entity, e.g., company or individual, to which the fact applies, the period of time the fact is relevant, and an optional scenario. Date and time information appearing in the period element must conform to [[ISO 8601]]. Scenarios provide further contextual information about the facts, such as whether the business values reported are actual, projected, or budgeted.
* ''Units'' define the units used by numeric or fractional facts within the document, such as USD, shares. XBRL allows more complex units to be defined if necessary. Facts of a monetary nature must use a unit from the [[ISO 4217]] namespace.
* ''Footnotes'' use XLink to associate one or more facts with some content.
* ''References'' to XBRL taxonomies, typically through schema references. It is also possible to link directly to a linkbase.

This is an example of a fictitious Dutch company's [[International Financial Reporting Standards]] (IFRS) statement instance file :
<syntaxhighlight lang="xml">
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<xbrli:xbrl
xmlns:ifrs-gp="http://xbrl.iasb.org/int/fr/ifrs/gp/2005-05-15"
xmlns:iso4217="http://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217"
xmlns:xbrli="http://www.xbrl.org/2003/instance"
xmlns:xbrll="http://www.xbrl.org/2003/linkbase"
xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">

    <xbrll:schemaRef xlink:href="http://www.org.com/xbrl/taxonomy" xlink:type="simple"/>
    <ifrs-gp:OtherOperatingIncomeTotalFinancialInstitutions contextRef="J2004" 
        decimals="0" unitRef="EUR">38679000000</ifrs-gp:OtherOperatingIncomeTotalFinancialInstitutions>
    <ifrs-gp:OtherAdministrativeExpenses contextRef="J2004" 
        decimals="0" unitRef="EUR">35996000000</ifrs-gp:OtherAdministrativeExpenses>
    <ifrs-gp:OtherOperatingExpenses contextRef="J2004" 
        decimals="0" unitRef="EUR">870000000</ifrs-gp:OtherOperatingExpenses>
    ...
    <ifrs-gp:OtherOperatingIncomeTotalByNature contextRef="J2004" 
        decimals="0" unitRef="EUR">10430000000</ifrs-gp:OtherOperatingIncomeTotalByNature>
    <xbrli:context id="BJ2004">
        <xbrli:entity>
            <xbrli:identifier scheme="www.iqinfo.com/xbrl">ACME</xbrli:identifier>
        </xbrli:entity>
        <xbrli:period>
            <xbrli:instant>2004-01-01</xbrli:instant>
        </xbrli:period>
    </xbrli:context>
    <xbrli:context id="EJ2004">
        <xbrli:entity>
            <xbrli:identifier scheme="www.iqinfo.com/xbrl">ACME</xbrli:identifier>
        </xbrli:entity>
        <xbrli:period>
            <xbrli:instant>2004-12-31</xbrli:instant>
        </xbrli:period>
    </xbrli:context>
    <xbrli:context id="J2004">
        <xbrli:entity>
            <xbrli:identifier scheme="www.iqinfo.com/xbrl">ACME</xbrli:identifier>
        </xbrli:entity>
        <xbrli:period>
            <xbrli:startDate>2004-01-01</xbrli:startDate>
            <xbrli:endDate>2004-12-31</xbrli:endDate>
        </xbrli:period>
    </xbrli:context>
    <xbrli:unit id="EUR">
        <xbrli:measure>iso4217:EUR</xbrli:measure>
    </xbrli:unit>
</xbrli:xbrl>

</syntaxhighlight>