RE: Re: [xsl] XSL to ODF/OOXML

[cknell@xxxxxxxxxx]

Tables, headers, footers, no problem. I wouldn't like to tackle footnotes, endnotes, TOCs, etc., in RTF though.
-- 
Charles Knell
cknell@xxxxxxxxxx - email



-----Original Message-----
From:     Steve <subsume@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent:     Fri, 27 Apr 2007 14:24:47 -0400
To:       xsl-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject:  Re: [xsl] XSL to ODF/OOXML

Thanks for the reply.

I don't need to transform legacy word documents, I just need to
transform HTML so it will work in word (2003, I guess). I suppose for
the time being I'll have to put off transforming into one of the
exciting new "open" formats the subject of this thread implies, and
stick with WordML. Thank you very much for the link, however.

The RTF is a fabulous idea, however, many of the reports include tables.

One question, though. If it isn't too terribly hard to write generic
XSL which converts HTML or XML into either (not all =) of the office
variants that you describe, why do you suppose there are no stray
stylesheets which accomplish as much on Google, yet there are
countless purchaseable products which do as much?

-Steve

On 4/27/07, cknell@xxxxxxxxxx <cknell@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Q. "Is this just another XSL transform that requires me learning the appropriate output schema ..."
>
> A. Yes.
>
> There's a big red flag here. I used to have a group of customers who would want some software modified and always started by saying, "Well can't you just ...?" I would tell them I could do anything they asked for, but I couldn't "just" do anything they asked for. In fact, my wife still works there, and if one or the other of us uses the word "just" in conversation, it' guaranteed to cause a smirk.
>
> Q. "I'm wondering if I can use the XHTML output as my source
> XML and have one stylesheet that converts all of my documents into the
> appropriate format?"
>
> A. Yes, but it would be one big --expletive deleted-- stylesheet. You would probably save yourself a fortune in psychotropic prescription drugs to create one stylesheet for each general type of document.
>
> "export to Word" covers a lot of ground. Don't be surprised to the public has Word95, Word97, Word2000, WordXP and Word2005. If you tell them you will "export to Word", you may be setting yourself up for a real tour de force of juggling to keep all these balls in the air. Not all of these can read an XML format.
>
> On the other hand, if your audience is internal to your organization, you may be able to limit your conversion to a few of these. I have had some success in using XSLT to convert XML to RTF, which all of these versions of Word can read. The price is that some of the more exotic MS Word features can't be represented in RTF.
>
> You ought to start off with the ECMA standard document: http://www.ecma-international.org/news/TC45_current_work/TC45-2006-50_final_draft.htm
> --
> Charles Knell
> cknell@xxxxxxxxxx - email
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From:     Steve <subsume@xxxxxxxxx>
> Sent:     Fri, 27 Apr 2007 13:11:55 -0400
> To:       xsl-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject:  [xsl] XSL to ODF/OOXML
>
> I'm scouring the internet looking for leads on creating ODF/OOXML with
> XSL transforms. I'm not really finding a whole lot, other than command
> line programs which accomplish as much.
>
> I have a website with lots of reports and, ideally, I'd like to have
> an 'export to Word' feature. Is this just another XSL transform that
> requires me learning the appropriate output schema or is there
> something additional that needs to be done?
>
> Also, I already have HTML versions of the reports I need (nothing too
> complicated). I'm wondering if I can use the XHTML output as my source
> XML and have one stylesheet that converts all of my documents into the
> appropriate format? Or am I reaching for the philosopher's stone too
> soon?
>
> I'm using XSL 1.0 and MSXSL parser.
>
> -S