XSLT For Dummies

Richard Wagner

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9780764536519
• eBook ISBN: 9781118085394
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Programming Languages
• Index: Computer Science

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.

Part I

Getting Started with XSLT

In this part . . .

**IN a DROPCAP**

Y ou watched the X-Files and then you saw X-Men on the big screen, but these were only warm-ups for the real deal — the X-Team. In this part, you find out all about the X-Team members, including XML, XSL, XSLT, and XPath, and how they work together. You also get your feet wet by transforming your first XML document using XSLT.

Chapter 1

Introducing the X-Team

In This Chapter

Finding out about XML, XSL, XSLT, and XPath

Knowing the difference between XSL and XSLT

Looking at the X-Team from an HTML perspective

A s a sports fan, I enjoy watching all kinds of team sports, whether football, basketball, baseball, or an Olympic team competition. I’ve noticed that regardless of the sport, great teams have two things in common. First, they have very talented individuals on them. Second, they function well as a team; I find hardly anything more thrilling in sports than seeing a squad of talented athletes working together cohesively. (Of course, it goes without saying that the most exciting part of sports is the “I’m going to Disneyworld” commercials!)

Although this book focuses on eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformations, or XSLT, you’ll quickly discover that XSLT is an important component of a closely related set of technologies that I affectionately call the X-Team. This “Dream X-Team” consists of: XML, XSL, XSLT, and XPath. (For the techies out there, that’s shorthand for eXtensible Markup Language, eXtensible Stylesheet Language, XSL Transformations, and XML Path Language.) Each of these technologies is powerful, but each gets its true strength through interrelationships. So, although I concentrate much of the attention in this book on XSLT, never think of it as something independent of its teammates.

As you start your XSLT journey, I begin by introducing you to the X-Team members, each of which has a separate but intertwined responsibility.

XML: Storing Your Data

The original member of the X-Team is eXtensible Markup Language (XML), the granddaddy of them all. All other X-Team members are designed to work with or act upon XML. A relatively recent innovation, XML was conceived primarily by Jon Bosak as a way to make working with information delivered over the Web easier. Then in 1998, XML was standardized by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the international standards body for the Web.

Since its beginnings, the Web has used HyperText Markup Language (HTML) to display content. HTML documents are stored on Web servers and then sent on demand to a Web browser, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. The browser then displays the HTML as a Web page. Figure 1-1 illustrates this process.

Figure 1-1: Displaying information over the Web.

HTML comes up short

HTML has become so wildly popular largely because it’s very easy to learn and work with; heck, even my 7-year-old can create a Web page using Microsoft FrontPage, and my 9-year-old can write HTML by hand. The markup language was originally designed purely as a way to format and lay out information. However, because people have wanted to use the Web for nearly every task under the sun, HTML has been forced to do far more than was ever intended.

Consider a familiar scenario: A company wants to put information stored in a database onto its Web site. A sampling of its data might look something like Table 1-1.

To present t...

Table of contents

• Title
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part I : Getting Started with XSLT
• Chapter 1: Introducing the X-Team
• Chapter 2: Writing Your First XSLT Stylesheet
• Part II : Becoming an XSLT Transformer
• Chapter 3: Transforming with Style (Stylesheets, That Is)
• Chapter 4: Templates Rule!
• Chapter 5: XPath Espresso
• Chapter 6: We Want Results!
• Part III : Prime Time XSLT
• Chapter 7: Adding Programming Logic Isn’t Just for Propheads
• Chapter 8: Variables in XSLT: A Breed Apart
• Chapter 9: Tweaking the Results to Get What You Want
• Chapter 10: To HTML and Beyond!
• Chapter 11: XPath Data Types and Functions
• Part IV : eXtreme XSLT
• Chapter 12: Combining XSLT Stylesheets
• Chapter 13: “Gimme Some Space” and Other Output Issues
• Chapter 14: Keys and Cross-Referencing
• Chapter 15: Namespaces Revisited
• Chapter 16: Extending XSLT
• Chapter 17: Debugging XSLT Transformations
• Part V : The Part of Tens
• Chapter 18: Ten Most Confusing Things About XSLT
• Chapter 19: Ten All-Pro XSLT Resources on the Web
• Chapter 20: Ten XSLT Processors Available Online
• Glossary