CALS Tables

[Peter Niklaus <petern@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi,

I am transforming SGML data into XML, and using Microsoft's XML plug-in to
display the information in a browser. Has anyone developed/come across a
design pattern for dealing with CALS tables? I have been pretty successful
in dealing with most other problems, but am reluctant to dive into this one
(skipped cells, named ranges etc.). 

Since CALS tables are used *a lot*, and they are by definition standardized,
it would be nice to have a standard XSL pattern to deal with them until they
are fully supported by the XML/XSL tools.

Thanks in advance, Peter (a newbie)


P.S. A CALS table using XML table might look like this (based on an aircraft
maintenance manual):

<TABLE>  
    <TGROUP COLS="3" ALIGN="LEFT" CHAROFF="50">
        <COLSPEC COLNAME="COL1" COLWIDTH="22*"/>
        <COLSPEC COLNAME="COL2" COLWIDTH="4*"/>
        <COLSPEC COLNAME="COL3" COLWIDTH="53*"/>
        <SPANSPEC NAMEST="COL1" NAMEEND="COL3" SPANNAME="WHOLE"
ALIGN="CENTER"/>
        <THEAD VALIGN="BOTTOM">
            <ROW>
                <ENTRY COLNAME="COL1" MOREROWS="0" ROTATE="0" VALIGN="TOP">
                    <PARA>REFERENCE</PARA>
                </ENTRY>
                <ENTRY COLNAME="COL2" MOREROWS="0" ROTATE="0" VALIGN="TOP">
                    <PARA>QTY</PARA>
                </ENTRY>
                <ENTRY COLNAME="COL3" MOREROWS="0" ROTATE="0" VALIGN="TOP">
                    <PARA>DESIGNATION</PARA>
                </ENTRY>
             </ROW>
        </THEAD>
        <TBODY VALIGN="TOP">
            <ROW>
                <ENTRY COLNAME="COL1" MOREROWS="0" ROTATE="0" VALIGN="TOP">
                    <PARA>No specific</PARA>
                </ENTRY>
                <ENTRY COLNAME="COL3" MOREROWS="0" ROTATE="0" VALIGN="TOP">

                    <PARA>circuit breaker(s) safety clip(s)</PARA>
                </ENTRY>
            </ROW>             
            <ROW>
                <ENTRY COLNAME="COL1" MOREROWS="0" ROTATE="0" VALIGN="TOP">
                    <PARA>No specific</PARA>
                </ENTRY>
                <ENTRY COLNAME="COL3" MOREROWS="0" ROTATE="0" VALIGN="TOP">

                    <PARA>safety barriers</PARA>
                </ENTRY>
            </ROW>
            <ROW>
                <ENTRY COLNAME="COL1" MOREROWS="0" ROTATE="0" VALIGN="TOP">
                    <PARA>No specific</PARA>
                </ENTRY>
                <ENTRY COLNAME="COL3" MOREROWS="0" ROTATE="0" VALIGN="TOP">
                    <PARA>thin nose pliers</PARA>
                </ENTRY>
            </ROW>
            <ROW>
                <ENTRY COLNAME="COL1" MOREROWS="0" ROTATE="0" VALIGN="TOP">
                    <PARA>No specific</PARA>
                </ENTRY>
                <ENTRY COLNAME="COL3" MOREROWS="0" ROTATE="0" VALIGN="TOP">
                    <PARA>warning notice</PARA>
                </ENTRY>
            </ROW>
            <ROW>
                <ENTRY COLNAME="COL1" MOREROWS="0" ROTATE="0" VALIGN="TOP">
                    <PARA>No specific</PARA>
                </ENTRY>
                <ENTRY COLNAME="COL3" MOREROWS="0" ROTATE="0" VALIGN="TOP">
                    <PARA>access platform 2.5 m (8 ft. 2 in.)</PARA>
                </ENTRY>
            </ROW>
            <ROW>
                <ENTRY COLNAME="COL1" MOREROWS="0" ROTATE="0" VALIGN="TOP">
                    <PARA>No specific</PARA>
                </ENTRY>
                <ENTRY COLNAME="COL3" MOREROWS="0" ROTATE="0" VALIGN="TOP">
                    <PARA>access platform 3.0 m (9 ft. 10 in.)</PARA>
                </ENTRY>
            </ROW>
            <ROW>
                <ENTRY COLNAME="COL1" MOREROWS="0" ROTATE="0" VALIGN="TOP">
                    <PARA>460005812</PARA>
                </ENTRY>
                <ENTRY COLNAME="COL2" MOREROWS="0" ROTATE="0" VALIGN="TOP">
                    <PARA>1</PARA>
                </ENTRY>
                <ENTRY COLNAME="COL3" MOREROWS="0" ROTATE="0" VALIGN="TOP">
                    <PARA>TORQUE ADAPTOR</PARA>
                </ENTRY>
            </ROW>
        </TBODY>
    </TGROUP>
</TABLE>



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