Java and XSLT

Chapter 8. Additional Techniques

This chapter presents solutions to a few commonly encountered problems that were not covered in previous chapters, such as implementing session tracking without browser cookies, detecting the browser type, and using XSLT as a rudimentary code generator. None of these techniques are remarkably difficult to implement or use. However, they all build upon the technologies presented throughout this book and are important for programmers to understand. The chapter concludes with advice for internationalization using XSLT and Java.

XSLT Page Layout Templates

In many cases, dynamically generated, highly interactive web applications are overkill. A small company may need only a static web site that displays job openings, new product announcements, and other basic information. Corporate intranets present another common scenario. In a typical intranet, a large number of departments and individual project teams may be responsible for various web sites within the corporation. Many of these groups are composed of nonprogrammers who can create basic XHTML pages but are not technical enough to write XML, XSLT, and servlets. In either scenario, consistent look and feel are essential.

XSLT is very effective for defining consistent page layout. In the approach outlined here, web page authors create XHTML pages using whatever tools they are familiar with. These pages should not use frames or include navigation areas. As Figure 8-1 shows, an XSLT stylesheet is used ...