XSLT - Transformation
Example study: How to transform XML into XHTML using XSLT.
The details of this example will be explained in the next
chapter.
Correct Style Sheet Declaration
The root element that declares the document to be an XSL style sheet is <xsl:stylesheet>
or <xsl:transform>.
Note: <xsl:stylesheet> and <xsl:transform> are completely synonymous
and either can be used!
The correct way to declare an XSL style sheet according to the W3C XSLT Recommendation
is:
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
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or:
<xsl:transform version="1.0"
xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
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To get access to the XSLT elements, attributes and features we must declare
the XSLT namespace at the top of the document.
The xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
points to the official W3C XSLT namespace. If you use this
namespace, you must also include the attribute version="1.0".
Start with a Raw XML Document
We want to transform the following XML document ("cdcatalog.xml") into
XHTML:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<catalog>
<cd>
<title>Empire Burlesque</title>
<artist>Bob Dylan</artist>
<country>USA</country>
<company>Columbia</company>
<price>10.90</price>
<year>1985</year>
</cd>
.
.
.
</catalog>
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Viewing XML Files in Firefox and Internet Explorer: Open the XML file
(typically by clicking on a link) - The XML document will be displayed with
color-coded root and child elements. A plus (+) or minus sign (-) to the left of
the elements can be clicked to expand or collapse the element structure. To view
the raw XML source (without the + and - signs), select "View Page Source" or
"View Source" from the browser menu.
Viewing XML Files in Netscape 6: Open the XML file, then right-click
in XML file and select "View Page Source". The XML document will then be
displayed with color-coded root and child elements.
Viewing XML Files in Opera 7: Open the XML file, then right-click in
XML file and select "Frame" / "View Source". The XML document will be displayed
as plain text.
View "cdcatalog.xml"
Create an XSL Style Sheet
Then you create an XSL Style Sheet ("cdcatalog.xsl") with a transformation template:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:template match="/">
<html>
<body>
<h2>My CD Collection</h2>
<table border="1">
<tr bgcolor="#9acd32">
<th align="left">Title</th>
<th align="left">Artist</th>
</tr>
<xsl:for-each select="catalog/cd">
<tr>
<td><xsl:value-of select="title"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select="artist"/></td>
</tr>
</xsl:for-each>
</table>
</body>
</html>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>
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View "cdcatalog.xsl"
Link the XSL Style Sheet to the XML Document
Add the XSL style sheet reference to your XML document ("cdcatalog.xml"):
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="cdcatalog.xsl"?>
<catalog>
<cd>
<title>Empire Burlesque</title>
<artist>Bob Dylan</artist>
<country>USA</country>
<company>Columbia</company>
<price>10.90</price>
<year>1985</year>
</cd>
.
.
.
</catalog>
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If you have an XSLT compliant browser it will nicely transform your
XML into XHTML.
View the result
The details of the example above will be explained in the next chapters.
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