RE: XML allowing variable XSL application for browsers

From: John <john-xsl-list@xxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: xsl-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: xsl-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject:  XML allowing variable XSL application for browsers?
Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2005 14:14:51 -0700

I have an XML file on a web server which references an XSL with code as follows:

<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="somefile.xsl"?>

When IE or Firefox requests this XML file, the browser detects the stylesheet reference and applies it to the XML to transform it into HTML. This works great, but what if I want to let the user choose from multiple XSL files which can be applied to the same XML? My first thought was URL parameters (which I otherwise generally avoid), but I am not sure if there is any URL parameter that can override the stylesheet referenced in the XML file. I was then thinking multiple XML files that basically contain the XSL reference and an entity reference (keeping the XML in a separate file), or using document() in the XSL files to open the content XML, but I would prefer to avoid that if possible.

Does anyone have any recommendations, pros and cons of the various techniques?

Thanks & regards,

-John