Using XML with Legacy Business Applications

Making XML the Native Output Format

If you've taken the trouble to go this far and add an XML export function, one thing you could consider is just using XML as the output format. Provide XSL stylesheets with the formatting objects appropriate for various types of output and you have succeeded in the often sought after goal of separating presentation from content. Once you have created the XML document your users can do with it what they like. And if they don't like your default printed formats, with a reasonable stylesheet graphical user interface they can create their own. This has to be much easier than building custom formatting routines into your application. Stylesheets for printing could be associated with specific documents and customers ...