[XML-SIG] xsl:nclude-and-transform

[Uche Ogbuji]

> Hi Lists,
> =

> Here is what I'd like to do :
> =

> company.xml (my own DTD)
> =

> 	<company>
>            <name>Logilab</name>
>            <address>10 rue Louis Vicat</address>
>            <web>http://www.logilab.com/</web>
>         </company>
> =

> document.xml (DocBook DTD)
> =

> 	<article>
>           <author>
>             <surname>Chauvat</surname>
>             <affiliation>
>               <!-- insert here the result of company.xml
>                    transformed with company2docbook.xsl
>                    should be
>                   =

>                    <orgname>Logilab</orgname>
>                    <address>
>                      <street>10 rue Louis Vicat</street>
>                    </address>
>               -->
>             </affiliation>
>           </author>
> =

>          <sect>
>            <!-- the rest of my document -->
>          </sect>
>        </article>
>  =

> Here are the ideas I had so far :
> =

>      * forget about my own DTD and write company.xml using docbook, the=
n
>        include an entity. It already works like this, but I need to
>        make it more flexible...
> =

>      * generate the document in two steps : replace the above comment w=
ith
>        a specific <include file=3D"company.xml/> tag that gets processe=
d by
>        a first XSLT and replaced with the proper docbook elements, then=

>        feed the result to the docbook generator. The problem is that wh=
en
>        you generate a document, you have to know which stylesheet to ap=
ply
>        for the first processing step.
> =

>      * generate the document in a single step : modify the above tag to=

>        specify the stylesheet : =

>          <include file=3D"company.xml" transform=3D"company2docbook.xsl=
"/>
>        and use something like an XSL extension function to replace that=

>        include tag with the corresponding elements. That would ask for
>        docbook XSL customization, but we already do that.
> =

>      * use processing instructions : I don't know much about PI. Could
>        I use a PI to do the two-step processing described above by
>        including a <?PI use-stylesheet=3D'first-step.xsl'?> in the docu=
ment
>        that I feed to the docbook processing step ?
> =

>      * ...
> =

> As you understood, I'm missing a <xsl:include-after-transform/> tag...
> =

> I look forward to your ideas and comments.

For max flexibility I'm guessing you wan thtis to be transparent to the =

stylesheet.  The best way I could think of makinng this happen would be t=
o add =

an option to the 4XSLT processor for translating xinclude instructions fr=
om =

result elements.

This would take the form:

* Update the XmlWriter and RtfWriter to look out for output requests that=
 meet =

XInclude spec and automatically render the resulting text or nodes into t=
he =

output.  Probably by parsing to cDomlette in both cases, and calling =

xml.dom.ext.Print on the resulting document element in the case of XMLWri=
ter =

(watch out for cdata-section-element specs and CDATASections in the XIncl=
uded =

file).  In the case of RTFWriter, one could either translate the domlette=
 =

nodes to RTFNodes or just write a quick'n dirty writer that generates RTF=
Nodes =

directly from text.

* Add a parameter to the processor (off by default) which enables this =

automatic translation

This actually would not be that difficult to implement, and if you're itc=
hing =

badly enough, you might want to work out a patch (on the R0-11-1-prerelea=
se =

branch of CVS 4Suite) that implements it.  It's useful enough (and an ine=
rt =

enough feature) that if all goes well, it could be included in 0.11.1 fin=
al, =

even though bugfixes are the priority at this point.

Failing that, and if you don't mind minimal XSLT additions, the best solu=
tion =

is probably

<xsl:template match=3D"affiliation">
  <xsl:variable name=3D"included">
    <xsl:value-of select=3D"document('company.xml')"/>
  </xsl:variable>
  <xsl:copy>
    <xsl:copy-of select=3D"$included"/>
  </xsl:copy>
</xsl:template>

Does all this help?


-- =

Uche Ogbuji                               Principal Consultant
uche.ogbuji@fourthought.com               +1 303 583 9900 x 101
Fourthought, Inc.                         http://Fourthought.com =

4735 East Walnut St, Boulder, CO 80301-2537, USA
XML strategy, XML tools (http://4Suite.org), knowledge management