XML to HTML Transformer

© 2007, by Thorsten Tarrach
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Brief Description

The XML to HTML Parser allows you to transform XML files to HTML using an XSLT Stylesheet. It is also possible to validate the XML files before processing.

Of course, learning all these technologies (you must at least be familiar with XML and XSL, for validation you must also know XML Schema) is a lot of work, but depending on your website it might be worth it.

For whom?

Generating Websites via XSL is probably oversized for a private homepage. It is also not very useful if server side script must be included or if the pages do not share the same look.
XSL is useful for all websites that have a lot of pages that should share a single look.

How it works

The idea is to separate data and view. CSS claims to do that, but XSL is one more abstraction. XSL (or XSLT as is also called) is often used to renders XML data from a database to HTML to put it on a website. But why not use XSL as well to render a website without database, without server side functionality.

CSS is fine if you would like to change the colour of a certain element type and CSS is still required when using XSL. But what if you want to change your copyright statement on all your sites? With XSL this is simple. Insert the copyright statement into your XSL file and it will be outputted for any page you process with this XSL.

The XSL reads XML files. With XML you have the freedom to arrange your data in whatever form suites your needs. You may as well easily generate XML files with a lot of software. And it is not difficult to write software yourself that outputs XML. The XSL file then reads the XML file and outputs HTML or even XHTML (the upcoming standard for web design).

What you have to learn

XML is easy to learn when you are familiar with HTML. XSL, however, is different from anything I’ve seen before. You do not write code, but the transformation is declarative. XML Schema (also called XSD) is optional, but useful for more advanced websites to ensure all pages comply with the XSL file. W3Schools is a good place to start learning about these technologies.