book

Professional XML

Name: Professional XML
ISBN: 9780471777779

by Thiru Thangarathinam, Bill Evjen, Alessandro Vernet, Sam Ferguson, Kent Sharkey, Michael Kay

April 2007

Intermediate to advanced

886 pages

21h 31m

English

Wrox

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Copyright
Credits
About the Authors
Acknowledgments
Introduction
What You Need for This BookWho Should Read This Book?What This Book CoversConventionsSource CodeErratap2p.wrox.com
I. XML Basics
1. XML Syntax
1.1. The Purpose of XML1.2. XML Syntax and Rules1.2.1. XML Parsers1.2.2. XML Elements and Tags1.2.2.1. Element Syntax1.2.2.2. XML Elements Must Have a Start and End Tag1.2.2.3. Naming Conventions for Elements1.2.2.4. XML Elements Must Be Properly Nested1.2.2.5. Empty Elements1.2.2.6. Tag Syntax1.2.3. XML Text1.2.3.1. Text Length1.2.3.2. Content1.2.3.3. Spoken Languages1.2.3.4. Whitespace1.2.3.5. Entity References1.2.3.6. CDATA Sections1.2.4. The XML Document1.2.4.1. Creating an .xml File1.2.4.2. The XML Declaration1.2.4.3. The version Attribute1.2.4.4. The encoding Attribute1.2.4.5. The standalone Attribute1.2.4.6. XML Comments1.2.4.7. XML Processing Instructions1.2.5. Attributes1.2.5.1. Naming Attributes1.2.5.2. Empty Attributes1.2.5.3. Attribute Names Must Be Unique1.2.5.4. The xml:lang Attribute1.2.5.5. The xml:space Attribute1.3. XML Namespaces1.4. Summary
2. XML Editors
2.1. Visual Studio .NET 20032.1.1. Basic Editing in Visual Studio .NET 20032.1.2. Schema Development in Visual Studio .NET 20032.1.3. Other Features2.2. Visual Studio 20052.2.1. Basic Editing in Visual Studio 20052.2.2. Schema Development in Visual Studio 20052.2.3. XSLT Development in Visual Studio 20052.3. Altova XMLSpy 20062.3.1. Basic Editing in Altova XMLSpy 20062.3.2. Schema Development in XMLSpy2.3.3. XSLT Development in XMLSpy2.3.4. Other Features in XMLSpy2.4. Stylus Studio 20062.4.1. Basic Editing in Stylus Studio 20062.4.2. Schema Development in Stylus Studio 20062.4.3. XSLT Development in Stylus Studio2.4.4. Other Features in Stylus Studio2.5. Oxygen XML Editor 6.22.5.1. Basic Editing in Oxygen XML Editor 6.22.5.2. Schema Development in Oxygen XML Editor 6.22.5.3. Converting between Schema Types in Oxygen XML Editor 6.22.5.4. XSLT Development in Oxygen XML Editor 6.22.5.5. Other Features in Oxygen XML Editor 6.22.6. Other XML Tools2.7. Summary
II. Presentation
3. XHTML and CSS
3.1. Understanding XHTML3.1.1. The Evolution of Markup3.1.2. The Basics of XHTML3.1.3. Validating XHTML3.1.3.1. W3C Validation Service3.1.3.2. Tidy3.1.3.3. Tidy UI3.2. Understanding CSS3.2.1. Basics of CSS3.2.2. CSS Examples3.2.2.1. Box Layout and Cross-Browser Compatibility3.2.2.2. Multicolumn Layout with CSS3.2.3. Validating CSS3.3. Using Microformats3.3.1. Elemental Microformats3.3.1.1. RelNoFollow3.3.1.2. Rel-Tag3.3.2. Compound Microformats3.3.2.1. hCard3.3.2.2. hCalendar3.3.2.3. hReview3.4. Summary3.5. Resources

4. XSL-FO
4.1. The Composition of XSL4.2. XSL-FO Overview4.2.1. Page Templates4.2.2. fo:simple-page-master4.3. XSL-FO Basics4.3.1. Hello World for XSL-FO4.3.2. Basic Formatting4.3.2.1. Lists4.3.2.2. Tables4.3.3. A Working Example4.4. Summary
III. Defining Structure
5. Document Type Definitions (DTDs)
5.1. Why Document Type Definitions?5.2. Internal DTDs5.3. External DTDs5.4. Building Your Own DTD5.4.1. Document Type Declaration5.4.1.1. The SYSTEM and PUBLIC Keywords5.4.1.2. Using the URI and Inline DTD Together5.4.2. Element Declarations5.4.2.1. Content Specification with ANY5.4.2.2. Placing Limits on Elements with #PCDATA5.4.2.3. Empty Values5.4.2.4. Child Elements5.4.2.4.1. Specifying a Number of Instances Required5.4.2.4.2. Reusing XML Elements5.4.2.4.3. The + Quantifier5.4.2.4.4. The ? Quantifier5.4.2.4.5. The * Quantifier5.4.2.4.6. Allowing a Choice5.4.3. Attribute Declarations5.4.3.1. Attribute Data Types5.4.3.2. The #REQUIRED Keyword5.4.3.3. The #IMPLIED Keyword5.4.3.4. The #FIXED Keyword5.4.3.5. Using Enumerations as Values5.4.4. Entity Declarations5.4.4.1. Internal Entities5.4.4.2. External Entities5.4.5. Notation Declarations5.5. Using XML Tools to Create the DTD5.6. DTD Validation5.7. Summary
6. XML Schemas
6.1. The Issues with DTDs6.2. Building the Root XML Schema Document6.2.1. The XML Declaration6.2.2. The Root Element6.2.2.1. attributeFormDefault Attribute6.2.2.2. elementFormDefault Attribute6.2.2.3. targetNamespace Attribute6.2.2.4. The version Attribute6.2.2.5. xml:lang Attribute6.3. Declaring Elements6.3.1. Simple Types6.3.1.1. Atomic Types6.3.1.2. List Types6.3.1.3. Union types6.3.2. Complex Types6.3.2.1. Looking at Reusability6.3.2.1.1. sequence and all6.3.3. Element Types6.3.4. Groups and Choices6.3.5. Element Restrictions6.3.5.1. Cardinality in XML Schemas6.3.5.2. minOccurs6.3.5.3. maxOccurs6.3.5.4. Default values6.3.5.5. Fixed Values6.3.5.6. Null Values6.3.6. Defining Attributes6.3.6.1. Default Values6.3.6.2. use Attribute6.3.6.3. Putting Restrictions on Attribute Values6.3.6.4. Attribute Groups6.4. Putting XML Schema Document Together6.4.1. <import>6.4.2. <include>6.5. Commenting XML Schemas6.5.1. Standard XML Comments6.5.2. <annotation>6.5.2.1. <documentation>6.5.2.2. <appInfo>6.6. XML Schema Tools6.6.1. Microsoft's Visual Studio 20056.6.2. Altova's XMLSpy6.7. Summary
7. RELAX NG
7.1. Why Another Schema Language?7.2. Defining a RELAX NG Schema7.3. Declaring Elements7.3.1. Simple Elements7.3.1.1. List Types7.3.1.2. Union Types7.3.2. Attributes7.3.3. Order of Elements7.3.4. Defining Grammar7.3.5. Reusing Types7.3.6. Merging Schemas7.3.7. Namespaces and Name Classes7.3.8. Annotating Schemas7.4. RELAX NG Tools7.4.1. Oxygen7.4.2. Trang7.5. RELAX NG Compact7.6. Summary7.7. Resources
IV. XML as Data
8. XSLT
8.1. What Is XSLT?8.2. XSLT Syntax8.2.1. Required Items8.2.1.1. Top-level Elements8.2.1.2. Including Additional Stylesheets with include and import8.2.1.3. Controlling Whitespace and Formatting with strip-space, preserve-space, and decimal-format8.2.1.4. Controlling Output with output and key8.2.2. Templates8.2.3. Retrieving Values8.2.3.1. Calling templates8.2.3.2. Multiple Templates for a Single Element8.2.4. Conditional Processing8.2.5. Looping8.2.6. Variables and Parameters8.2.7. Other Functions and Expressions8.2.8. Extending XSLT8.3. Executing XSLT8.3.1. Executing XSLT at the Command-line8.3.2. Executing XSLT via Code8.3.3. Executing XSLT in a Browser8.4. Changes with XSLT 2.08.5. Generating Output with XSLT8.5.1. Generating HTML with XSLT8.5.2. Converting between XML Syntaxes with XSLT8.6. Debugging XSLT8.7. Summary8.8. Resources
9. X Path
9.1. Major Features of XPath9.1.1. Nodes9.1.2. Tree Structure9.1.3. Path Expressions9.1.4. Predicates9.1.5. Axes9.1.6. Sequences9.2. Lessons from the Trenches9.2.1. When A ! = B Is Different from not(A = B)9.2.2. The Many Faces of a Document9.2.3. Tuning Your XPath Expressions9.2.4. Function Calls in Path Expressions9.2.5. Using Comments and Nested Comments9.2.6. Using Regular Expressions9.2.7. The unordered() Function: Quite an Oddity9.2.8. Union and Sequence Operators9.2.9. //h1[1] Different Than (//h1)[1]9.2.10. Reverse Axis—Evil at Times9.2.11. Debugging with trace()9.3. XPath in Java, .NET, and PHP9.3.1. XPath in Java9.3.2. XPath on .NET9.3.3. XPath in PHP9.4. Tools for XPath9.4.1. Online XPath Sandbox9.4.2. XPath in Your Browser9.4.3. XML Editors9.4.4. Eclipse and IntelliJ9.5. Summary9.6. References
10. XQuery
10.1. What Is XQuery?10.1.1. XQuery Use Cases10.1.2. Advantages of XQuery10.1.3. Structure of an XQuery Expression10.2. A Simple XQuery Example10.3. Enclosed Expressions10.4. FLWOR Expressions10.4.1. A Simple FLWOR Expression10.4.2. An In-Depth Look at FLWOR Expressions10.4.2.1. for Clause10.4.2.2. let Clause10.4.2.3. where Clause10.4.2.4. order by Clause10.4.2.5. return Clause10.4.3. FLWOR Expressions Versus XPath Expressions10.5. XQuery Functions10.5.1. XQuery Built-In Functions10.5.1.1. doc() Function10.5.1.2. Aggregate Functions10.5.1.3. String Functions10.5.2. XQuery User-Defined Functions10.6. XQuery in Java10.6.1. Pre-requisites10.6.2. Selecting XML with XQuery10.6.2.1. Invoking execQuery() from an XmlObject10.6.2.2. Invoking execQuery() from an XmlCursor10.7. XQuery in Relational Databases10.7.1. XQuery in SQL Server 200510.7.2. XML Data Type Query and Data Modification10.7.2.1. Working with the query Method10.7.2.2. Working with the value Method10.7.2.3. Working with the exist Method10.7.2.4. Working with the nodes Method10.7.2.5. Working with the modify Method10.8. Summary
11. XML in the Data Tier
11.1. XML and Databases11.1.1. Retrieving Data as XML11.1.2. Storing XML11.2. Relational Databases11.2.1. Microsoft SQL Server 200511.2.1.1. Retrieving XML11.2.1.2. Storing XML11.2.1.3. Additional XML-related features11.2.2. Oracle 10g11.2.2.1. Retrieving XML11.2.2.2. Storing XML11.3. XML Databases11.3.1. Xindice11.3.1.1. Retrieving XML11.3.1.2. Storing XML11.4. Other Databases11.5. Summary11.6. Resources
V. Programming XML
12. XML Document Object Model (DOM)
12.1. What Is DOM?12.1.1. Why Client-Side XML Processing?12.1.2. XML DOM Object Model12.1.3. Using the Document Interface12.1.4. Loading an XML Document12.1.4.1.12.1.4.1.1. Using the readyState Property12.1.5. Using the Element Interface12.1.6. Creating a New Element12.1.7. Using the Node Interface12.1.7.1. Creating a New Node12.1.7.2. Appending a New Child Node12.1.7.3. Inserting a Node Before an Existing Node12.1.7.4. Removing a Child Node12.1.7.5. Replacing a Node12.1.7.6. Accessing Text Values of Elements12.1.8. Using the NodeList Interface12.1.9. Using the NamedNodeMap Interface12.1.10. Using the Attr Interface12.1.11. Creating Attributes12.1.12. Using the CharacterData Interface12.1.13. Using the Comment Interface12.1.14. Using the Text Interface12.1.15. Using the CDATASection Interface12.1.16. Handling Errors in XML DOM12.1.17. XML Transformation Using XSL12.2. XML Validation Using XML DOM12.3. Summary
13. Simple API for XML (SAX)
13.1. Introducing XML Parsing13.1.1. Tree-Based APIs13.1.2. A Simple API for XML (SAX)13.1.3. Installing SAX13.2. SAX Architecture13.2.1. Basic SAX Application Flow13.3. SAX Packages and Classes13.3.1. The SAXParser Class13.3.2. The XMLReader Interface13.3.3. Receiving SAX Events13.3.3.1. The DefaultHandler Class13.3.4. Using the XMLReader Interface13.3.5. DefaultHandler Class13.3.5.1. The startDocument() and endDocument() Methods13.3.5.2. The processingInstruction() Method13.3.5.3. Namespace Callbacks13.3.5.4. The startElement() and endElement() Methods13.3.5.5. Element Data Callback13.3.5.6. The ignorableWhitespace() Method13.3.5.7. The skippedEntity() Method13.3.5.8. The setDocumentLocator() Method13.3.6. Handling Errors and Warnings13.4. Searching in an XML File13.5. Writing XML Contents Using SAX13.6. XML Validation Using SAX13.7. Advantages and Disadvantages of SAX13.8. Summary
14. Ajax
14.1. Adding JavaScript to a Web Page14.1.1. Adding JavaScript to a Web Page14.1.2. Functions in JavaScript14.1.3. Data Types in JavaScript14.1.3.1. Language Features of JavaScript14.2. XMLHttpRequest14.3. The DOM14.3.1. Objects in the DOM14.3.2. Events in the DOM14.4. Putting It All Together14.5. Ajax Libraries14.5.1. Using the Microsoft AJAX Library to Add Ajax Functionality14.5.2. Using Prototype to Add Ajax Functionality14.6. Ajax Resources14.7. Summary
15. XML and .NET
15.1. The Serialization of XML15.1.1. Serializing Using the XmlSerializer Class15.1.2. Changing the Output of the Serialized Object15.2. Deserializing XML15.3. XmlWriter15.3.1. Writing XML Using XmlTextWriter15.3.2. Writing XML Using XmlWriter15.3.3. Writing XML Programmatically Using XmlWriter15.4. XmlReader15.4.1. Reading XML with a Schema Validation15.4.2. Casting XML Types to .NET-Compliant Types15.5. Reading XML Using XPathDocument15.6. XML in ASP.NET 2.015.6.1. The XmlDataSource Server Control15.6.2. The XmlDataSource Control's Namespace Problem15.6.3. The Xml Server Control15.7. Summary
16. XML and Java
16.1. Reading and Writing XML16.1.1. Parsing from Java16.1.1.1. SAX: Push Parsing16.1.1.2. StAX: Pull Parsing16.1.2. Writing XML (Serialization)16.1.2.1. Using a JAXP Serializer16.1.2.2. Serializing Using StAX16.2. XML Tree Models16.2.1. Alternatives to DOM16.2.2. JDOM16.2.3. DOM4J16.2.4. XOM16.2.5. Java/XML Data Binding16.2.6. Controlling XSLT, XQuery, and XPath Processing from Java16.2.6.1. JAXP: The Java API for XML Processing16.2.6.1.1. The JAXP Factory Mechanism16.2.6.1.2. The JAXP Parser API16.2.6.1.3. The JAXP Transformation API16.2.6.1.4. The JAXP Validation API16.2.6.2. XQJ: The XQuery API for Java16.3. Summary
17. Dynamic Languages and XML
17.1. Perl17.1.1. Reading and Writing XML17.1.1.1. Reading XML17.1.1.2. Writing XML17.1.2. Support for Other XML Formats17.2. Python17.2.1. Reading and Writing XML17.2.1.1. Reading XML17.2.1.2. Writing XML17.2.2. Support for Other XML Formats17.3. Ruby17.3.1. Reading and Writing XML17.3.1.1. Reading XML17.3.1.2. Writing XML17.3.2. Support for Other XML Formats17.4. Summary17.5. Resources17.5.1. Perl Resources17.5.2. Python Resources17.5.3. Ruby Resources
VI. XML Services
18. RSS and Atom
18.1. What Is RSS?18.2. Specifications18.2.1. RSS 2.018.2.2. RSS 1.018.3. What Is Atom?18.4. Reading RSS and Atom18.4.1. Reading with .NET18.4.1.1. XmlDocument18.4.1.2. XmlReader18.4.2. Reading RSS with Java18.5. Writing RSS and Atom18.5.1. Writing with .NET18.5.2. Writing with Java18.5.3. Class Libraries Available for Processing RSS and Atom18.6. Summary18.7. Resources
19. Web Services
19.1. Why Web Services?19.2. The Composition of Web Services19.2.1. Representing and Communicating Data in Web Services19.2.2. Describing Web Services19.2.3. Discovering Web Services19.3. Building Web Services with C#19.3.1. Using the Microsoft Web Services Test Page19.3.2. Testing the WebMethod19.3.3. Altering the Protocols Used by the Web Service19.4. Building Web Services with Java19.4.1. Introduction to Axis and Tomcat19.4.2. Setting Up Axis and Tomcat19.4.3. Publishing Web Services Using Axis19.4.3.1. Instant Deployment Through Renaming .java to .jws19.4.3.2. Advanced Deployment19.4.3.2.1. Creating the Service Implementation19.4.3.2.2. Creating a Web Service Deployment Descriptor (WSDD) File19.5. Consuming Web Services with C#19.5.1. Consuming Web Services Using ASP.NET19.5.1.1. Adding a Web Reference to Your ASP.NET Project19.5.1.2. Building the Consuming Web Page19.5.2. Consuming Web Services Using Windows Forms19.6. Consuming Web Services with Java19.6.1. Consuming the HelloWorld Service19.6.2. Running the Client Application19.6.3. Consuming the ProductService19.6.4. Running the Client Application19.7. Caching Web Services19.8. Asynchronous Consumption of Web Services19.8.1. Building a Slow Web Service19.8.2. Consuming the TakeLongTime() WebMethod Asynchronously19.9. Summary
20. SOAP and WSDL
20.1. SOAP Speak20.2. The Basics of SOAP20.2.1. Remember: SOAP Is XML!20.2.2. Transport Protocols for SOAP20.3. Looking Closely at the SOAP Specification20.3.1. The SOAP Message20.3.2. The SOAP Envelope20.3.3. The SOAP Body20.3.3.1. Looking at the SOAP Body of the Request20.3.3.2. Looking at the SOAP Body of the Response20.3.4. The SOAP Header20.3.4.1. The actor Attribute20.3.4.2. The role Attribute20.3.4.3. The mustUnderstand Attribute20.3.5. SOAP 1.1 Faults20.3.5.1. <faultcode>20.3.5.2. <faultstring>20.3.5.3. <faultactor>20.3.5.4. <detail>20.3.6. SOAP 1.2 Faults20.3.6.1. <Code>20.3.6.1.1. <Value>20.3.6.1.2. <Subcode>20.3.6.1.3. <Reason>20.3.6.1.4. <Text>20.3.6.1.5. <Node>20.3.6.1.6. <Role>20.3.6.1.7. <Detail>20.3.7. SOAP Encoding of Data Types20.4. Tracing SOAP Messages20.4.1. The Microsoft Trace Utility20.4.1.1. Using the Trace Utility20.4.2. Modifying the Consuming Application20.4.3. Viewing the SOAP Messages20.4.4. XMLSpy's SOAP Debugging20.4.4.1. Using the SOAP Debugging Capabilities20.4.5. Using XMLSpy to Issue SOAP Requests20.5. Working with SOAP Headers20.5.1. Creating SOAP Messages Using SOAP Headers20.5.2. Consuming SOAP Messages Using SOAP Headers20.6. Defining Web Services Using WSDL20.6.1. The Structure of WSDL Documents20.6.2. <definitions>20.6.3. <types>20.6.4. <message>20.6.5. <portType>20.6.6. <binding>20.6.7. <soap:binding>20.6.8. <soap:operation>20.6.9. <soap:body>20.6.10. <service>20.6.11. <import>20.6.12. <documentation>20.7. Summary
21. Advanced Web Services
21.1. Expanding on a Foundation21.2. Web Services Framework — The Paper21.2.1. Message Envelope and Controlled Extensibility21.2.2. Binary Attachments21.2.3. Message Exchange aka Routing21.2.4. Message Correlation21.2.5. Guaranteed Message Exchange21.2.6. Digital Signature21.2.7. Encryption21.2.8. Transactions and Activities21.2.9. Service Description21.2.10. Process Flow Contract Description21.2.11. Inspection21.2.12. Discovery21.3. WS-I.org21.4. Extending XML Web Services21.4.1. SOAP Basics21.4.2. SOAP Headers21.4.3. SOAP Extensions21.5. WS-* Specifications21.5.1. WS-Security21.5.1.1. Credential Exchange21.5.1.2. Message Integrity21.5.1.3. Message Confidentiality21.5.2. WS-Addressing21.5.3. WS-Attachments21.5.4. WS-Coordination21.5.5. WS-MetadataExchange21.5.6. Core Specifications21.6. Looking at Microsoft's Web Services Enhancements 3.021.6.1. The WSE 1.0 Contents21.6.2. The WSE 2.0 Contents21.6.3. The WSE 3.0 Contents21.6.4. Functionality Provided by the WSE21.6.5. How the WSE Works21.6.6. Building a WSE 3.0 Example — The Server21.6.6.1. Creating a Class That Verifies Credentials21.6.6.2. Configuring the Application To Use the WSE 3.021.6.6.3. Configuring Diagnostics21.6.6.4. The Result of the WSE Settings 3.0 Tool Configuration21.6.6.5. Building the Web Service21.6.7. Building a WSE 3.0 Example — The Client Application21.6.8. The Result of the Exchange21.7. Summary
22. REST
22.1. Introducing the Basics of REST22.1.1. Pure REST22.1.2. Just-enough REST22.2. Accessing REST Services22.2.1. Accessing REST Service Examples22.3. Creating REST Services22.3.1. Just-enough REST Service Example22.3.2. A Pure REST Service Example22.4. Summary22.5. Resources
VII. Applying XML
23. XML Form Development
23.1. Creating Forms23.1.1. Creating Forms23.1.2. XForms Model23.1.3. XForms Controls23.1.3.1. Common Control Children23.1.3.2. Changing Control Appearance23.1.3.3. Grouping Controls23.1.4. Binding Instance Data23.1.5. XForms Submit Protocol23.2. XForms Logic23.2.1. Events23.2.2. Actions23.3. XForms Sample23.4. Alternatives to XForms23.4.1. Microsoft InfoPath23.4.2. Comparing XForms and InfoPath23.5. Summary23.6. Resources
24. The Resource Description Framework (RDF)
24.1. The Core Structure of RDF24.2. The RDF Graph Model24.3. Using Altova's SemanticWorks24.4. The RDF XML Schema24.5. Summary
25. XML in Office Development
25.1. Using XML with Microsoft Excel25.1.1.25.1.1.1. Saving Excel workbooks as XML25.1.1.2. Editing XML documents25.2. Using XML with Microsoft Word25.2.1.25.2.1.1. Saving Word documents as XML25.2.1.2. Editing XML documents25.3. Using XML in Other Office Applications25.3.1. Microsoft Access25.3.1.1. Importing XML25.3.1.2. Saving as XML25.3.2. Microsoft InfoPath25.4. Office 2007 — Open XML Format25.5. OpenOffice — The Open Document Format25.6. Summary25.7. Resources
26. XAML
26.1. Thin or Thick?26.2. One More Application Style — Windows Presentation Foundation26.2.1. WPF Within Visual Studio 200526.2.2. Nesting Controls26.2.3. Case Study: Building a Document Viewer Using XAML26.2.3.1. Create the WPF Application26.2.3.2. Building the Document26.2.3.3. Viewing the Document26.2.3.4. Adding an Image to the Document26.2.3.5. Final Step: Saving the Document as an XPS File26.3. Summary

Content preview from Professional XML

Chapter 8. XSLT

Every tradesman's tool case has one tool that is a little more worn than the others. It is the favorite tool, the "go to" tool that gets used when all other tools have failed, or maybe even the first tool for all problems. For XML developers, that tool is often XSLT (eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformations). XSLT is a templating language that can be used to convert XML into something else. The result of the transformation can be XML, HTML, XHTML, or even plain text or binary. XSLT is a powerful tool and, like many powerful tools, it has a few sharp edges you should avoid. As XSLT is a functional language, it can seem a little alien at first for developers used to procedural languages such as C# or Java. In addition, XSLT has limited support for variables and conditional logic than either of those languages. This chapter shows you how you can use XSLT in your applications and avoid its potential problems. Examples will show how you can use XSLT standalone, or combined with other programming languages and tools.

What Is XSLT?

XSLT is a transformation language for XML. Its purpose is to take a source tree of XML nodes and convert them into a result by using a series of templates or rules. XSLT is itself an XML syntax (see Listing 8-1). The result of an XSLT transformation does not have to be XML, however. The XSLT specification allows the output to be XML, HTML, or text. In addition, you can target some other form of output, perhaps even binary content.

Example 8-1. Sample ...

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Professional XML

by Thiru Thangarathinam, Bill Evjen, Alessandro Vernet, Sam Ferguson, Kent Sharkey, Michael Kay

Chapter 8. XSLT

What Is XSLT?

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