Special Edition Using Xslt

Description

The only book a developer needs with practical examples of using XSLT to transform XML data for web display and e-commerce.

Promotion info

Special Edition Using XSLT starts with an overview explaining how XSLT fits into the bigger picture of the Extensible Stylesheet Language, and the differences between XSLT and XSL-FO.It then demonstrates practical examples of XSL transformations from XML to a variety of other useful formats including HTML, PDF, SVG and others.Later chapters discuss developer techniques for implementing XSLT within dynamic web environments including ASP and JSP. The author also covers debugging techniques and how XSLT relates to .NET.The book finishes with a useful reference section including detailed coverage of XSLT, XPath and XSL-FO.

Author description

Michael Floyd is a veteran author, editor, and XML developer who has been involved with XSLT since its inception. He provides XML training through BeyondHTML.com and edits the XML.org newsletter. He has chaired numerous conferences and tracks, including the GCA's XML 2000. He was executive editor of Dr. Dobb's Journal for seven years, and also served as WebTechniques first editor-in-chief. His XML column subsequently ran in the publication for more than three years. Michael wrote the first XML book for Web developers, Building Web Sites with XML, published by Prentice-Hall in 1999. David Gulbransen is the CEO of Vervet Logic and has been involved with XML since before there was a standard-Vervet shipped beta releases of its XML Pro tool before XML 1.0 was final. Previously, David wrote Special Edition Using XML Schema and The Complete Idiot's Guide to XML, both published by Que Publishing. Joe Hinder is a consultant in Austin, Texas. He has seven years of Internet development experience for large companies, including Dell Computer and Ernst & Young, LLP, where his projects included Dell Premier Pages, the Dell Knowledgebase, and Ernst & Young's TaxCast. Alaric Snell works in a joint ISO/ITU-T Working Group and develops message handling and workflow systems. He has worked with XSLT for two years and is an active member of the XML-DEV mailing list. Mark Wutka is the president of Wutka Consulting and specializes in helping companies get the most out of Java. He has built numerous Java, JSP, and servlet applications, and he previously wrote Special Edition Using Java Server Pages and Servlets and Special Edition Using Java 2 Enterprise Edition, both published by Que Publishing.

Table of contents

Introduction. Roadmap to Special Edition Using XSLT. Conventions Used in This Book. The Metamorphosis Begins. I. FOUNDATIONS. 1. The Essence of XSL. What Is XSL? Benefits of XSL. XSL Features. Applying XSLT. In Practice. 2. XSL Jumpstart. XSL Processing. Creating the Stylesheet. Templates and Template Rules. Understanding Patterns. Creating Text. Getting the Content of an Element. Outputting the Results. Applying Style Sheets Dynamically. Retrieving Attributes. Adding New Template Rules. In Practice. Troubleshooting. 3. XPath. XPath Defined. XPath in XSL and XSLT. XPath Data Model. Location Paths. Expressions. Positional Predicates. Function Calls. In Practice. Troubleshooting. 4. The XSL Transformation Language. Defining XSLT. Processing Style Sheets. Linking Your Style Sheet. Style Sheet Structure. Creating Elements and Attributes. Iterative Processing. Conditional Processing. Other Elements. In Practice. Troubleshooting. 5. XSL Formatting Objects. Introducing XSL Formatting Objects. Basics of XSL-FO. A Basic XSL-FO Document. Areas. Pages. Content Areas. Inline Objects. Out-of-Line Objects. Tables. Lists. Properties. Background and Color Properties. Borders and Padding. Font Properties. Text. Aural Properties. Integrating XSLT and XSL-FO. In Practice. Troubleshooting. II. USEFUL TRANSFORMATIONS. 6. Transforming XML into HTML. HTML's Role as an Output Format. HTML. A Basic HTML Transformation. Dealing with HTML Elements That Are Not Well Formed. Linking in Cascading Style Sheets. Processing Database Records. Providing Multiple Views of a Data Set. Customized Views for Different Browsers. In Practice. Troubleshooting. 7. Transforming from XML to XML. Why Transform from XML to XML? Mapping XML Schema Types. Dependency of Style Sheets on the Source Document. Generating Wireless Markup. In Practice. Troubleshooting. 8. Web Services and WSDL. An Overview of Web Services. Touring Web Services. Web Services Description Language. WSDL and XSLT. UDDI. In Practice. Troubleshooting. III. DEVELOPMENT TECHNIQUES. 9. Server-Side Transformations Using ASP. Overview of Server-Side XML Processing. Quick Tour of Active Server Pages. Overview of the Document Object Model (DOM). Using the DOM on the Server. Putting the DOM to Work. Orchestrating Transformations Using SAX. In Practice. Troubleshooting. 10. Server-Side Transformations Using JSP. Overview of Server-Side XML Processing. Overview of JavaServer Pages (JSP). Loading XML Documents. Applying an XSLT Style Sheet. Using XSLT Without DOM. Sample Applications. In Practice. Troubleshooting. 11. Dynamic XSLT Generation. Manipulating XSLT Using DOM. Practical Considerations. Automating the Transformation. Building a Parser. Assembling the Scripts. Finally...the XML. Further Customizing Dynamic Documents. In Practice. Troubleshooting. 12. Debugging XSLT. When Things Go Wrong. Understanding the Application. Asking the Right Questions. Checking the Style Sheet. Debugging Style Sheets. Checking XPath Expressions. Handling Irregular Data. Troubleshooting. 13. Transforming XML with .NET. XSLT and .NET. Transformations with .NET. In Practice. Troubleshooting. IV. APPENDIXES. Appendix A. XSLT Element and Function Reference. Alphabetical Listing of XSLT Elements. Alphabetical Listing of XSLT Functions. Appendix B. XSL Basic Formatting Objects and Properties Reference. Pagination and Layout. Block Formatting Objects. Inline Formatting Objects. Table Formatting Objects. List Formatting Objects. Other Key Formatting Objects. Complete Alphabetical Listing of Formatting Properties. Appendix C. XPath Expressions Reference. XPath Abbreviated Syntax. XPath Axis Types. XPath Core Function Library. Index.