XML and XSLT
With XSLT you can transform an XML document into HTML.
Displaying XML with XSLT
XSLT (eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformations) is the recommended style sheet language for XML.
XSLT is far more sophisticated than CSS. With XSLT you can add/remove elements and attributes to or from the output file. You can also rearrange and sort elements, perform tests and make decisions about which elements to hide and display, and a lot more.
XSLT uses XPath to find information in an XML document.
XSLT Example
We will use the following XML document:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<breakfast_menu>
<food>
<name>Belgian Waffles</name>
<price>$5.95</price>
<description>Two of
our famous Belgian Waffles with plenty of real maple syrup</description>
<calories>650</calories>
</food>
<food>
<name>Strawberry
Belgian Waffles</name>
<price>$7.95</price>
<description>Light Belgian
waffles covered with strawberries and whipped cream</description>
<calories>900</calories>
</food>
<food>
<name>Berry-Berry
Belgian Waffles</name>
<price>$8.95</price>
<description>Light Belgian
waffles covered with an assortment of fresh berries and whipped
cream</description>
<calories>900</calories>
</food>
<food>
<name>French Toast</name>
<price>$4.50</price>
<description>Thick
slices made from our homemade sourdough bread</description>
<calories>600</calories>
</food>
<food>
<name>Homestyle
Breakfast</name>
<price>$6.95</price>
<description>Two eggs, bacon or
sausage, toast, and our ever-popular hash browns</description>
<calories>950</calories>
</food>
</breakfast_menu>
Use XSLT to transform XML into HTML, before it is displayed in a browser:
Example XSLT Stylesheet:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<html xsl:version="1.0"
xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<body
style="font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;background-color:#EEEEEE">
<xsl:for-each
select="breakfast_menu/food">
<div
style="background-color:teal;color:white;padding:4px">
<span style="font-weight:bold"><xsl:value-of select="name"/> - </span>
<xsl:value-of select="price"/>
</div>
<div
style="margin-left:20px;margin-bottom:1em;font-size:10pt">
<p>
<xsl:value-of select="description"/>
<span style="font-style:italic"> (<xsl:value-of select="calories"/> calories
per serving)</span>
</p>
</div>
</xsl:for-each>
</body>
</html>
Transform the XML Document with XSLT »
If you want to learn more about XSLT, find our XSLT tutorial on our homepage.
