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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: 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/#resultxsltBut 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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