RE: [xsl] Most meaningful design documents for xslt?

["Angela Williams" <Angela.Williams@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

With object oriented or procedural programming, we use flow charting,
sequence diagrams, object models, etc to work through complex problems
to derive a solution.

In order to have useful collaboration with my team mates, who have no
knowledge of XSLT or backgrounds in declarative programming, it would
help to explain complex problems using design tools with which they are
familiar.

I am trying to design the necessary xml to allow a non-technical end
user complete control to define a table through UI to output in xsl-fo.
The requirements are very complex and I am struggling to fit everything
in: conditional column spans; conditional, cell-level data and textual
formatting; conditional row-level overrides for data and textual
formatting; specifying which data element is assigned to which column
AND row - without any idea of the nature or structure of the data; 0 or
more sorts; 0 or 1 groupings; decimal-centered alignment that also
carries through to the footer row; variable precision; variable signage
for currency and percents; variable padding; variable spacing; allowing
standard or user-defined functions to be applied to cells, etc.  And it
must be able to exactly reproduce existing tables that are currently
produced with very specific hard-coding, down to a tenth of a mm and
with a very specific data structure.

I can do the two-dimensional data and column-level formatting, and I can
do the two-dimensional data and row-level formatting.  I have not been
able to figure out how to do the three-dimensional data, column-level,
and row-level combination.

We may be hiring a consultant to help me come up with a workable design.
If anyone is interested, please forward your resume and financial
requirements for consideration.

Thanks!
Angela Williams
Angela.Williams@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx