book

XSLT for Dummies

by Richard Wagner

March 2002

Beginner

360 pages

11h 1m

English

For Dummies

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What I Assume About You How This Book Is Organized Conventions Used in This Book Icons Used in This Book
XML: Storing Your Data XSL: Presenting XML Data XSLT: Transforming Your XML Data XPath: Seeking Out Your Data The X-Team through HTML Eyes
Preparing Your XSLT Working Environment Creating a Simple XML Document Knowing the End Result Writing an XSLT Stylesheet Processing the Stylesheet Viewing the Results
Structure of a Stylesheet Constructing Your XSLT Stylesheet What’s in a Name(space)? Documents as Trees
A Glorified Mail Merge Basics of a Template Rule Common Action Instructions Built-In Template Rules Matchmaker, Make Me a Match Working with Attribute Value Templates Working with Named Templates
XPath, The X-Team’s Commando Dancing the Location Step Defining Relationships with Axes Matching Nodes with Node Tests Using Predicates to Get Specific Take a Walk on the Absolute Side Putting It All Together

XSLT, Like Skinning a Cat XML Source Copying an Element Copying All Elements Adding a New Element Adding a Calculated Value Renaming an Element Removing an Element Removing an Attribute Reordering Elements Merging Elements Adding Attributes Moving an Attribute Converting Elements into Attributes Converting Attributes into Elements
Conditional and Looping Statements If and Only If Testing Expressions with Logical Operators Why Choosy People Choose xsl:choose Going Loopy with xsl:for-each
What Is a Variable? Setting Variables Uses of Variables Think Globally, Act Locally Working with Parameters
Sorting Elements in the Results Tree Adding Automatic Numbering
XML and HTML Outputting to HTML Creating an HTML Table Linking an XSLT Stylesheet with an XML Document Browser Support of XSLT To Infinity and Beyond (Into Other Formats)
Playing ‘Heart and Soul’ with Nodes Working with Strings Numerically Speaking Booleans: To Be or Not to Be General Purpose Functions
Comparing xsl:include and xsl:import Practical Use of xsl:import
Gimme Some Space Indenting Your Result Document Adding Comments Adding Processing Instructions
Keys to the Kingdom Using Keys with Multiple Source Documents
Speaking the Namespace Lingo Adding a Namespace to the Result Document Working with Multiple Namespaces
Going Beyond the Basics Using an Extension Element Using an Extension Function Ensuring Portability of Your Stylesheets
Conditionally Halting Execution Adding a Conditional Debug Mode Tracing through Your Code More Powerful Debugging
Built-In Template: The Man Behind the Screen Thar’s Trees in Them Documents Getting to the Root of the Issue Why the Selected Node Is Not the Same as the Current Node Those //@.}* Abbreviations To Apply or Copy, That Is the Question Walk This Way Expressions, Paths, and Steps Those Cute Little Curly Braces Whitespace, the Final Frontier
Xslt.com W3C XSLT Recommendation W3C XPath Recommendation Dave Pawson’s XSLT FAQ W3School’s XSL School MSDN’s XML Center Xml101.com Jeni’s XSLT Pages TopXML: XSLT Reference Nic Miloslav’s XSLT Tutorial
Saxon msxsl Sablotron Xalan-C++ Xalan-Java LotusXSL XT jd.xslt XML::XSLT libxslt

Overview

Restructuring information in an XML document so that it works in other formats used to be a time-consuming ordeal involving lots of blood, sweat, and tears. Now XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations) makes the process nearly instantaneous. Just provide an example of the kind of information you'd like to see, and XSLT does the rest. With XSLT you can effortlessly transform XML documents into virtually any kind of output, including other XML documents and HTML pages. But mastering XSLT can be tricky, especially if you've never worked with XML or HTML; and most books on the subject are written for people who have. Here comes XSLT For Dummies to the rescue!

XSLT For Dummies is your ticket to quickly mastering XSLT—no matter what your prior programming experience. Writing in easygoing, plain English, XML pro Richard Wagner provides expert advice, step-by-step guidance, and tons of crystal-clear examples to help you harness the power of XSLT to transform documen ts. In no time you'll:

Understand how XSLT works with XSL and XPath
Experiment with templates, stylesheets, and expressions
Perform HTML transformations
Master XPath data types and functions
Combine XSLT stylesheets
Explore cool XSLT programming tricks

XSLT For Dummies works from the ground up, starting with a practical introduction of the "X-Team"—XML, XSL, XSLT, and X-Path—and instructions on how to write a XSLT stylesheet. From there it quickly moves onward and upward through the whole range of important XSLT topics, including:

Transforming with stylesheets
Understanding and using template rules
Using XPath to locate nodes in XML documents
Combining XSLT stylesheets and adding processing instructions
Debugging XSLT transformations
Ten XSLT processors available online

It doesn't matter whether you're a babe in the woods who can't tell a "tag" from an element, or you're an old pro at creating XML documents, XSLT For Dummies offers you a fun, easy way to explore and take full advantage of Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations.