Want help with XML and XSL

BrentC · 05-08-2007, 01:05 PM

I am doing a table which displays the content of an XML document using XSL. The code is supposed to iterate throught the XML document and display all the XML data. I only get the first "record" from the XML file displayed in the table. Maybe the IE browser I am using doesn't support XSL?... But I get the same result with Firefox! I am not sure what version IE is-how can I find out? Also, what HTML code do I need to set the works in motion? Many thanks to any one who can help me!!

BrentC · 05-08-2007, 07:53 PM

OK...I have the following XML code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="clients.xsl"?>

<body>
<clientstatus>
<client>
<name>Brent</name>
<team>A</team>
<bathroom>Week 2</bathroom>
<otherchores>Yard Work</otherchores>
</client>

I then have the following XSL code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<!DOCTYPE note SYSTEM "InternalNote.dtd">
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">

<xsl:template match="clientstatus">

<html>
.
.
.
some Javascript to open the XML file...It works!

now the following XSL code...

<UL>
<xsl:for-each select="client">
<li><xsl:value-of select="name"/></li>
<xsl:for-each>
</UL>

I get only the table headers but no XML info . I have tried various ways to do it, but to no avail.

Question: Do I have to put the XSL in a .xsl file and load it in a .html file or what? I tried that too...

Many thanks for your help

BrentC

BrentC · 05-09-2007, 06:04 PM

Now...I'm going back to plain html with styles and javascript. Thanks

BrentC

stirling · 05-10-2007, 01:13 AM

Hi BrentC

Sorry to see you've given up on it. But for what it's worth here's a few pointers. Personally I'd stick with it, xml/xsl is so much more powerful than just using CSS alone.

Firefox has support for XML and XSLT from version 1.0.2.
Internet Explorer supports XML, Namespaces, CSS, XSLT, and XPath from version 6.
To get version of IE - Help/About Internet Explorer

Here's how your xml should be (clients.xml)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="clients.xsl"?>

<clientstatus>
<client>
<name>Brent</name>
<team>A</team>
<bathroom>Week 2</bathroom>
<otherchores>Yard Work</otherchores>
</client>
<client>
<name>John</name>
<team>B</team>
<bathroom>Week 3</bathroom>
<otherchores>Milking the hamster</otherchores>
</client>
</clientstatus>

No <body> in there as I'm assuming you mean that as an html body. That belongs in your xsl.

and for clients.xsl

<?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="clientstatus">
<html>
<body>
<UL>
<xsl:apply-templates />
</UL>
</body>
</html>
</xsl:template>

<xsl:template match="client">
<li><xsl:value-of select="name"/></li>
</xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

While you're experimenting/learning/debugging with xsl I'd advise you forget loading with Java etc. It's not neccessary. Just 'hard wire' the transform you want to use straight into your xml. That way you don't have to trap and report errors. IE will do it for you. Just double click your xml file and IE will load it and apply the transform and display your (x)html.

Cheers

BrentC · 05-10-2007, 06:20 PM

I'm not sure what you mean by a transform... I tried a Java transform in the html file like this...

document.write(xml.transformNode(xsl))

but you said not to use it so what do i emplement?

Thanks again,

BrentC

stirling · 05-11-2007, 02:24 AM

As you know, when you load an HTML file into IE, it displays it according to the rules of html.

And as you also know when you put a line like <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="mystyle.css" /> in your HTML you're telling IE to apply an external CSS document to the HTML and display the resultant "transform" (or in better English, the "transformation").

Similarly you can load an XML file into IE just as you would an HTML file. The only problem is that IE can only do two things with an XML document. It can check that it's "good" and it can pretty print it. (try it with any old xml file).

However just as with CSS if you "link" to an XSL file with a line like <?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="clients.xsl"?> then IE will apply the XSL to the XML. (i.e. all the code is in there for you courtesy Mr. Gates - no java required)

And here's the good bit in a case like you're doing. If you write the XSL such that it "transforms" the XML into HTML (actually it's XHTML) then IE will display it just as you want.

The real killer though is that you get pretty good error reporting from IE so you can concentrate on getting you're XML and XSL as you want it without frigging about with java error handling yourself.

Once you've got the hang of XML and XSL, then you can start doing the fancy stuff in java.

Just a quick note: HTML can be and usually is badly written and it will still work in IE. you know the sort of stuff, missing closing tags etc. That's cos Bill knows most web programmers wern't allowed to hand out the scissors at school (mind you - he shouldn't have been allowed to either). XML HAS TO BE CORRECT or IE (and every other xml enabled app) will kick it out - it's the law.

BrentC · 05-11-2007, 05:58 PM

Thanks Stirling for your patience..I put the following code you gave me in the .xsl file:

<?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="clientstatus">
<html>
<body>
<UL>
<xsl:apply-templates />
</UL>
</body>
</html>
</xsl:template>

<xsl:template match="client">
<li><xsl:value-of select="name"/></li>
</xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

I then clicked on the XML file and IE said it couldn't load the XML file...I couldn't find what version of IE I'm using but I am using Windows ME...could that be the problem??

BrentC

BrentC · 05-12-2007, 05:47 PM

Hey Stirling...I GOT IT !!! Thank you so much. I might need in future so stick around..

Bye for now

BrentC

stirling · 05-14-2007, 02:48 AM

no problem

05-08-2007, 01:05 PM	#1 (permalink)
BrentC Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Location: British Columbia, Canada Posts: 53 OS: vista	Want help with XML and XSL I am doing a table which displays the content of an XML document using XSL. The code is supposed to iterate throught the XML document and display all the XML data. I only get the first "record" from the XML file displayed in the table. Maybe the IE browser I am using doesn't support XSL?... But I get the same result with Firefox! I am not sure what version IE is-how can I find out? Also, what HTML code do I need to set the works in motion? Many thanks to any one who can help me!!

05-08-2007, 07:53 PM	#2 (permalink)
BrentC Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Location: British Columbia, Canada Posts: 53 OS: vista	Re: Want help with XML and XSL OK...I have the following XML code: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="clients.xsl"?> <body> <clientstatus> <client> <name>Brent</name> <team>A</team> <bathroom>Week 2</bathroom> <otherchores>Yard Work</otherchores> </client> I then have the following XSL code: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <!DOCTYPE note SYSTEM "InternalNote.dtd"> <xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"> <xsl:template match="clientstatus"> <html> . . . some Javascript to open the XML file...It works! now the following XSL code... <UL> <xsl:for-each select="client"> <li><xsl:value-of select="name"/></li> <xsl:for-each> </UL> I get only the table headers but no XML info . I have tried various ways to do it, but to no avail. Question: Do I have to put the XSL in a .xsl file and load it in a .html file or what? I tried that too... Many thanks for your help BrentC

05-09-2007, 06:04 PM	#3 (permalink)
BrentC Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Location: British Columbia, Canada Posts: 53 OS: vista	Re: Want help with XML and XSL Now...I'm going back to plain html with styles and javascript. Thanks BrentC

05-10-2007, 01:13 AM	#4 (permalink)
stirling Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 139 OS: xp	Re: Want help with XML and XSL Hi BrentC Sorry to see you've given up on it. But for what it's worth here's a few pointers. Personally I'd stick with it, xml/xsl is so much more powerful than just using CSS alone. Firefox has support for XML and XSLT from version 1.0.2. Internet Explorer supports XML, Namespaces, CSS, XSLT, and XPath from version 6. To get version of IE - Help/About Internet Explorer Here's how your xml should be (clients.xml) <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="clients.xsl"?> <clientstatus> <client> <name>Brent</name> <team>A</team> <bathroom>Week 2</bathroom> <otherchores>Yard Work</otherchores> </client> <client> <name>John</name> <team>B</team> <bathroom>Week 3</bathroom> <otherchores>Milking the hamster</otherchores> </client> </clientstatus> No <body> in there as I'm assuming you mean that as an html body. That belongs in your xsl. and for clients.xsl <?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="clientstatus"> <html> <body> <UL> <xsl:apply-templates /> </UL> </body> </html> </xsl:template> <xsl:template match="client"> <li><xsl:value-of select="name"/></li> </xsl:template> </xsl:stylesheet> While you're experimenting/learning/debugging with xsl I'd advise you forget loading with Java etc. It's not neccessary. Just 'hard wire' the transform you want to use straight into your xml. That way you don't have to trap and report errors. IE will do it for you. Just double click your xml file and IE will load it and apply the transform and display your (x)html. Cheers __________________ Bang head on keyboard to continue...

05-10-2007, 06:20 PM	#5 (permalink)
BrentC Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Location: British Columbia, Canada Posts: 53 OS: vista	Re: Want help with XML and XSL I'm not sure what you mean by a transform... I tried a Java transform in the html file like this... document.write(xml.transformNode(xsl)) but you said not to use it so what do i emplement? Thanks again, BrentC

05-11-2007, 02:24 AM	#6 (permalink)
stirling Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 139 OS: xp	Re: Want help with XML and XSL As you know, when you load an HTML file into IE, it displays it according to the rules of html. And as you also know when you put a line like <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="mystyle.css" /> in your HTML you're telling IE to apply an external CSS document to the HTML and display the resultant "transform" (or in better English, the "transformation"). Similarly you can load an XML file into IE just as you would an HTML file. The only problem is that IE can only do two things with an XML document. It can check that it's "good" and it can pretty print it. (try it with any old xml file). However just as with CSS if you "link" to an XSL file with a line like <?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="clients.xsl"?> then IE will apply the XSL to the XML. (i.e. all the code is in there for you courtesy Mr. Gates - no java required) And here's the good bit in a case like you're doing. If you write the XSL such that it "transforms" the XML into HTML (actually it's XHTML) then IE will display it just as you want. The real killer though is that you get pretty good error reporting from IE so you can concentrate on getting you're XML and XSL as you want it without frigging about with java error handling yourself. Once you've got the hang of XML and XSL, then you can start doing the fancy stuff in java. Just a quick note: HTML can be and usually is badly written and it will still work in IE. you know the sort of stuff, missing closing tags etc. That's cos Bill knows most web programmers wern't allowed to hand out the scissors at school (mind you - he shouldn't have been allowed to either). XML HAS TO BE CORRECT or IE (and every other xml enabled app) will kick it out - it's the law. __________________ Bang head on keyboard to continue...

05-11-2007, 05:58 PM	#7 (permalink)
BrentC Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Location: British Columbia, Canada Posts: 53 OS: vista	Re: Want help with XML and XSL Thanks Stirling for your patience..I put the following code you gave me in the .xsl file: <?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="clientstatus"> <html> <body> <UL> <xsl:apply-templates /> </UL> </body> </html> </xsl:template> <xsl:template match="client"> <li><xsl:value-of select="name"/></li> </xsl:template> </xsl:stylesheet> I then clicked on the XML file and IE said it couldn't load the XML file...I couldn't find what version of IE I'm using but I am using Windows ME...could that be the problem?? BrentC

05-12-2007, 05:47 PM	#8 (permalink)
BrentC Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Location: British Columbia, Canada Posts: 53 OS: vista	Re: Want help with XML and XSL Hey Stirling...I GOT IT !!! Thank you so much. I might need in future so stick around.. Bye for now BrentC

05-14-2007, 02:48 AM	#9 (permalink)
stirling Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 139 OS: xp	Re: Want help with XML and XSL no problem __________________ Bang head on keyboard to continue...