Xslt For Dummies(R)

Restructuring information in an XML document so that it works in other formats used to be a time-consuming ordeal involving lots of blood, sweat, and tears. Now XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations) makes the process nearly instantaneous. Just provide an example of the kind of information you’d like to see, and XSLT does the rest. With XSLT you can effortlessly transform XML documents into virtually any kind of output, including other XML documents and HTML pages. But mastering XSLT can be tricky, especially if you’ve never worked with XML or HTML; and most books on the subject are written for people who have. Here comes XSLT For Dummies to the rescue!

XSLT For Dummies is your ticket to quickly mastering XSLT—no matter what your prior programming experience. Writing in easygoing, plain English, XML pro Richard Wagner provides expert advice, step-by-step guidance, and tons of crystal-clear examples to help you harness the power of XSLT to transform documen ts. In no time you’ll:

Understand how XSLT works with XSL and XPath

Experiment with templates, stylesheets, and expressions

Perform HTML transformations

Master XPath data types and functions

Combine XSLT stylesheets

Explore cool XSLT programming tricks

XSLT For Dummies works from the ground up, starting with a practical introduction of the “X-Team”—XML, XSL, XSLT, and X-Path—and instructions on how to write a XSLT stylesheet. From there it quickly moves onward and upward through the whole range of important XSLT topics, including:

Transforming with stylesheets

Understanding and using template rules

Using XPath to locate nodes in XML documents

Combining XSLT stylesheets and adding processing instructions

Debugging XSLT transformations

Ten XSLT processors available online

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a babe in the woods who can’t tell a “tag” from an element, or you’re an old pro at creating XML documents, XSLT For Dummies offers you a fun, easy way to explore and take full advantage of Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations.

Richard Wagner, the former chief architect of NetObjects ScriptBuilder and the primary author of the ECMAScript Components standard, is currently in charge of development tools at Nombas, Inc.