Xsl

[Joe Black]

We’ve just entered the testing phase of a project using XSL-FO to convert XML to PDF for the reports. It sounded a good idea when we planed it.

However, ……

XSL-FO, now that's what I call daring.

ok, tell me how to do the following using fking XSL: I have got report that I want to be modular (thus easily customisable without much work), to do that I keep header, body and footer of the report in separate files. This means that header needs to output TABLE tag - only starting one, there is no closure in THAT template. The fking thing does not like the fact that unclosed (in that template) tag is generated ffs!

AtW, I just hope you're not still using HTML tables for layout...

[AtW]

AtW, I just hope you're not still using HTML tables for layout...

Yes, what's your problem with tried and tested TABLE tag?

[Joe Black]

That's what I thought for years until I designed a CMS on my last job and found out just how much you could do with things like CSS.

It was still all based around XSLT templates though.

[CaribbeanPirate]

XSL-FO, now that's what I call daring.

Sarcasm? It was daring for me because I know bugger-all 'bout xsl.

It was very fiddly. Anyone recommend a decent wysiwyg editor?

[Jabberwocky]

"XMLSpy" jabbed the wocky.

[Joe Black]

Sarcasm? It was daring for me because I know bugger-all 'bout xsl.

It was very fiddly. Anyone recommend a decent wysiwyg editor?

No sarcasm intended. Just that very few people seem to be using it and there doesn't seem to a decent set of tools around, i.e. up to HTML editor level, just yet.

[Cowboy Bob]

Yes, what's your problem with tried and tested TABLE tag?

The TABLE tag is designed for tabular data, as it's name implies. It is not designed for layout. Layout should be done with CSS. Doing it this way means that you can change any of the layout without having to change any code. It also makes it a lot friendlier for people who use screen readers as all their software sees is the content - I believe now it's technically illegal to design a company site that is inaccessible to screen readers, though I've yet to hear of a prosecution.

[AtW]

I use TABLE for tabular data - you know, rectangble with rows and columns with data - very much like Excel. This is what TABLE is designed for.

I believe now it's technically illegal to design a company site that is inaccessible to screen readers, though I've yet to hear of a prosecution.

TABLE tag does not affect accessibility and its much better for machine learning than div's.

[AtW]

So you can't increment a fking variable in this POS of a "language", ffs, what kind of retard create something with ability to do loops and variables, but you can't assign to such vars, WTF!!!!

[Cowboy Bob]

So you can't increment a fking variable in this POS of a "language", ffs, what kind of retard create something with ability to do loops and variables, but you can't assign to such vars, WTF!!!!

I still think you're trying to do something in a way that it was not meant to be used. You seem to be thinking of it as a programming language which it most definitely is not - it's a templating description language.

Seriously, you can do some pretty impressive stuff with XSLT. The key is to utilise lots of little sub-templates which get automatically invoked with the various X-Path matches. If you're trying to do anything programmatically I think you have not quite understood how it is supposed to work.