The XSL Companion Book

One of the most important technologies on the XML bandwagon is XSL, which really comprises separate XSL, XSLT and Xpath standards. The XSL Companion provides in-depth coverage of XSL and XSLT--the core technologies behind formatting XML data. This book focuses on the details of how XSLT in particular can be used to mould information on the fly. The author breaks the standard apart into digestible chapters such as "contextual formatting" and "sorting". The content is fast moving and demands a technical reader comfortable with complexity. Those new to XML technologies should pick up a general tutorial prior to tackling this book. Along with text explanations of all the magic XSLT and XSL can do, the author uses code snippets as well as numerous graphical diagrams to illustrate information processing, layout and tree navigation. These visual elements add much to the explanation of what would otherwise be very abstract concepts indeed. The author addresses head on the fact that much of XSLT's job today is turning XML data into HTML-formatted documents compatible with the current batch of browsers. There is plenty of focus in this book on how that is done, but the chief purpose still remains the exploration of the powerful transformation and formatting features the XSL standards provide. --Stephen W. PlainRead More