Re: xslfo process

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Subject: Re: xslfo process
From: "G. Ken Holman" <gkholman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:13:28 -0400

At 2009-07-20 08:40 -0700, Ming Yu wrote:

I'm new to xslfo but I have been using xslt for a while. My question is, what is the best practice to output xml to pdf?

Wouldn't "best" be relative to your requirements? What are your requirements? You don't say.

As far as I understand, those are the step involved:
1. xml -> xslfo through xslt
2. xslfo -> pdf through FOP

Yes, that is very typical. Your information is expressed in XML and the layout of that information is expressed in XSL-FO.

But when writing xsl for step 1, I have to put all the fo coding inside xsl for the formatting. It seems to be very distracting.

But you say you've been using XSLT for a while. If you have been using XSLT to create HTML then you have to put all of the HTML coding inside XSLT for the rendering. How is that different?

XSLT is a templating language used to assemble an output structure from examples of that structure found in your stylesheet. If you need an output structure of XSL-FO then you need to use examples in XSL-FO. If you need an output structure of HTML then you need to use examples in HTML. What XSLT work have you been doing that is different?

If I know what data I want from the xml file and what design I want for the pdf output, is it possible to build the fo file first and add the xsl piece later on?

This is atypical but not impossible. I needed this for my UBL stylesheet work. I have published two environments where you create the XSL-FO first and then annotate it with information about your XML ... you then press a button and out comes a synthesized stylesheet. These two environments are available for free download:

    http://www.CraneSoftwrights.com/resources/#literatexslt
    http://www.CraneSoftwrights.com/resources/#resultxslt

But it is not at all typical and the only reason it was "best" for my UBL stylesheet work is that I needed an environment to create dozens of XSLT stylesheets based on the United Nations Layout Key. I described the layout using XSL-FO as a standalone instance, annotated it with UBL information, and the output from my processes is an XSLT stylesheet:

http://www.CraneSoftwrights.com/resources/ublss/

It is certainly not "best" for 99.44% of my stylesheet work.

I hope this helps.

. . . . . . . . . Ken

--
XSLT/XSL-FO/XQuery hands-on training - Oakland, CA, USA 2009-08-03
Crane Softwrights Ltd.          http://www.CraneSoftwrights.com/s/
Training tools: Comprehensive interactive XSLT/XPath 1.0/2.0 video
Video lesson:    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrNjJCh7Ppg&fmt=18
Video overview:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTiodiij6gE&fmt=18
G. Ken Holman                 mailto:gkholman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Male Cancer Awareness Nov'07  http://www.CraneSoftwrights.com/s/bc
Legal business disclaimers:  http://www.CraneSoftwrights.com/legal

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xslfo process Ming Yu - 20 Jul 2009 15:40:57 -0000 G. Ken Holman - 20 Jul 2009 16:11:43 -0000 <=

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