Using XML with Legacy Business Applications

Running Transformations from a Command Line

You've probably asked by now, “OK, this is all well and good, but how do I actually run one of these transformations?” IDEs like XMLSPY or TurboXML provide menu options for performing XSLT transformations. However, some IDEs may require you to include in your source document a stylesheet processing instruction, such as the following.

<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="ProspectToCustomer.xsl"?>

While this may be fine for an IDE, you wouldn't want to rely on this approach in most production situations. No matter how good a supplier you are, Ford and GM are unlikely to put your own stylesheet reference in the purchase orders they send you.

Unless you build XSLT transformations into your business ...