Subject: Re: using HTML editors with XSL From: "David Halsted" <halstedd@xxxxxxxxxx> Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2000 07:55:36 -0500 |
I have generally written my own HTML forms for XML editing. What I do is create a string that can be read out as XML using JavaScript, and use something (Perl, usually, but lately saxon:output in Saxon) just to create a file with the string in it, which is then an XML file and can be parsed. The last version of an "editor" I did in this way creates an array of objects in JavaScript and displays the array in a select box; users can move elements up and down within the array and add elements using buttons. To write out the XML files, I loop over the array and turn the named properties of each object into attributes, create a string and submit it via a concealed form. To edit XML files, I just reverse the process. In the XSL itself I call a JavaScript constructor each time the template hits an element; then the attributes of the XML element become properties of objects in a JavaScript array. This works well in its very limited area of application, and so far I've been building forms for specific purposes. I'm working on a more generalized version. In a perfect world, I suppose the thing would read a DTD . . . but I needed some kind of Web-based XML editor I could configure to let users do only a limited number of things, and I didn't know of any out there. I can imagine creating a similar tool for your own purposes, though I haven't thought through full-out XSL editing. The point is that "ordinary users" can move things around using tools like this; you could create a relatively small set of XSL sheets that would display underlying XML, and then users can change the contents of your page (a lot) by using something like the home-grown tool I've created. At least, that's what I'm hoping will happen in the app I'm building :) Good luck, Dave Halsted ----- Original Message ----- From: Aleksandrs Jakovlevs <Aleksandrs_Jakovlevs@xxxxxxxx> To: <xsl-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2000 3:13 AM Subject: using HTML editors with XSL > > > I am a novice in XSL, so my questions is rather about the methodology. > > We want to design a system that prepares data in XML and expose it to the > end-user by means of internet browser. It seems that optimal solution is to > use XSL for this purpose. We expect to have a lot of views. BUT... there > are a lot of professional HTML editors that allow HTML design and there is > a lot of experienced HTML designers. These designers are not programmers. > They are capable to design a perfect forms, colors, gifs etc. The business > content should be provided by mapping XML on this stuff (using XSL). It can > be done by separate person (a programmer). He needs to embed XSL to > existing HTML. Later HTML designer should be able to change page design > using his tools and programmer - to update XSL (in a convenient way). They > both are working on the same HTML page. In other words we would like to > have XSL document consisting of two parts: HTML template and some XSL tags > specifying where to put data from XML source. And we want to be able to > change these two parts independently. > I haven't seen a tool that allow to support such style of work. After > reading some materials introducing XSL technology I have discovered that > XSL is not exactly oriented on the proposed approach. The problem is that > XSL stylesheet that transforms XML into HTML can not be editable by an HTML > editor since XSL (in general) doesn't keep structure of the HTML template > unchanged. > There could be several solutions: > 1. Use some subset of XSL allowing to keep structure of the HTML template > unchanged, e.g. use <xsl:for-each select="..."> instead of <xsl:template > match="...">. This can make it possible to edit XSL stylesheet by some HTML > editor which is able just to skip unknown tags (in our case tags started > with "xsl:"). (BTW, do you think it's possible?) > 2. Wait for special HTML/XSL editors that will be able to restore HTML > structure from the XSL and edit HTML template in WYSIWYG mode. (When such > an editor could appear?) > 3. Find out some other technology (not XSL) that is more applicable for the > described scenario. (Does anyone know such a technology?) > > Thanks, > Alex > > > > XSL-List info and archive: http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list > XSL-List info and archive: http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list
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