Re: XSL processor?

> I keep hearing little rumors about xsl processors, but can't find anywhere I
> can actually download one.  What is an xsl processor, and do I need one in
> addition to an xml parser? 

An XML parser reads byte-collections that comprise an XML document's
physical entities (read off a disk or streamed in over a network,
usually) and it reports on the singular, hierarchical, logical structure
that the document defines.

An XSL processor interprets the logical hierarchies coming from the
parser (SAX events or DOM objects, usually) as trees of nodes, according
to the XPath/XSLT data model. The processor uses the information in one
or more "source" trees and one stylesheet tree to produces a "result"
tree. It may also derive from the result tree some form of serialized
output, such as an XML or HTML document entity.

Some popular XML parsers are James Clark's XP and IBM XML4J (a wrapper
for Apache Xerces). There are many others. Some popular XSL processors
are James Clark's XT, Michael Kay's SAXON, LotusXSL, Apache Xalan, and
others.

Some XSL processors come with an XML parser. The standalone XT executable
for Win32 integrates XP, and Instant SAXON integrates Aelfred. The
Microsoft XML Parser (MSXML) can be used as an XML parser, XSL processor,
or both.

If you intend to do XSL transformations, then yes, you need an XSL
processor. See http://www.oasis-open.org/cover/xslSoftware.html for
a complete list.

   - Mike
____________________________________________________________________
Mike J. Brown, software engineer at         My XML/XSL resources:
webb.net in Denver, Colorado, USA           http://www.skew.org/xml/


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