Class overview :

Class goals :

After completing this course, delegates will be able to:

• locate content in an XML document using XPath
• write XSLT style sheets to transform XML documents
• apply XSLT style sheets statically or dynamically to XML documents
• generate new XML content using XSLT
• perform repetition and conditional logic in an XSLT style sheet
• sort documents, and control textual and numeric output
• define and use named templates
• parameterise template rules and style sheets
• coordinate multiple XML documents using style sheets
• reuse, customise, and extend XSLT style sheets

Content of Transforming XML using XSLT Style Sheets

XSLT and XPath Introduction

• Recap of XML document structure
• What is XPath?
• What is XSLT?
• Why are XSLT and XPath useful?
• Transforming XML documents using XPath and XSLT
• Generating XML and/or HTML output
• Industry support for XPath and XSLT

Selecting XML Nodes using XPath

• XPath nodes and properties
• Axes, node tests, and predicates
• Location paths and location steps
• Accessing elements and attributes
• Accessing other node types
• Filtering nodes using predicates
• Using XPath operators and functions

Writing and Applying XSLT Style Sheets

• XSLT style sheet structure
• Defining template rules
• Obtaining node values
• Invoking template rules
• Literal result elements
• Applying a style sheet to an XML document
• Applying a style sheet dynamically using DOM

The XSLT Programming Language

• Performing iteration
• Making decisions
• Creating named templates
• Calling named templates
• Defining and using variables
• Defining and using parameters

Fine-Tuning XSLT Output

• Formatting numbers
• Sorting the result tree
• Controlling whitespace
• Character encodings
• Specifying XML, HTML, and plain text output methods

Mapping XML dialects with XSLT

• Creating new XML content with XSLT
• Creating elements
• Creating attributes
• Namespace issues
• Generating and formatting text content
• Creating numeric output
• Creating other XML content

Managing multiple XML documents with XSLT

• Accessing multiple XML documents
• Cross-referencing data using keys
• Accessing XML data with keys
• Generating cross references in XML documents

Producing Scalable Solutions with XSLT

• Including style sheets
• Importing style sheets
• Overriding imported template rules
• Invoking overridden template rules
• Specifying template priorities

The Way Ahead

• Extension elements
• Extension functions
• Forwards-compatible processing
• Fallback processing
• The role of XPath in XPointer
• Likely impact of the XML Schema Definition Language (XSLD)