The Xsl Companion

A concise, comprehensive and accessible guide to the scope, strengths and limitations of the XSL (eXtensible Stylesheet Language) family of stylesheet standards for XML, this book explains the practical ways in which XSL can be utilized for formatting and manipulating information held in the hugely popular XML data format. The huge expansion in usage of XML created the need for a powerful standard for formatting and transforming XML documents - the XSL standard, which developed into the family of three specific standards examined in detail in this book. XSL enables the further expansion of XML technology into new domains of content management, audience targeted presentation and distributed document processing. If you are a current or potential XML user looking for just one reference to get you up to speed on styling and manipulating your XML documents with clarity, comprehensive coverage and precision, then this book will be your essential and constant companion. This book covers in detail the family of three separate stylesheets which make up XSL: * Xpath locates specific information within XML Documents * XSLT transforms XML documents into other data formats * XSL embeds formatting information in XML documents. Together these form a powerful array of tools that allow you to control and optimize the formatting of your XML documents, and thus deliver content and information in a dynamic and flexible way.