Using an Extension Function in Stylus Studio

The process of using an extension function in Stylus Studio involves three main steps:

1. First, you need to write a Java class that can be used from within a stylesheet. In this example, the SystemDate() method returns the system date and time as a string:


import java.util.Date; public class SystemUtils { public Object SystemDate() { Date d = new Date(); String s = d.toString(); return s; } }

2. Second, compile your class and register it on the Stylus Studio host by copying the .class file to a location defined in the host's CLASSPATH environment variable.

3. Finally, specify information in the stylesheet so that Stylus Studo can use your class. You do this with a namespace reference in the xsl:stylesheet tag. For example, define a namespace as xmlns:Ext where Ext is the prefix to use when calling the class methods. ( Ext is not a predefined keyword; it can be replaced by any other legal string.) The namespace reference then takes the class name as a value. In this example, the whole reference looks like the following:


xmlns:Ext="SystemUtils"

The class is now available from within the stylesheet and can be used in a template such as the following:


<xsl:template match="NODE"> <p><xsl:value-of select="Ext:SystemDate()"/></p> </xsl:template>

The XSLT stylesheet might look like the following:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-10646-UCS-2"?> 
               
<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/XSL/Transform" 
               
xmlns:Ext="SystemUtils"> 
               
   <xsl:param name="param">test</xsl:param> 
               
   <xsl:template match="*|/">
               
      <xsl:apply-templates/>
               
   </xsl:template> 
               
   <xsl:template match="text()|@*">
               
     <xsl:value-of select="."/>
               
   </xsl:template> 
               
   <xsl:template match="NODE"> 
               
     <p><xsl:value-of select="Ext:SystemDate()"/></p> 
               
   </xsl:template> 
               
</xsl:stylesheet>

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