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Air Force Materiel Command. Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO 11 Feb 04. Developing, Fielding, and Sustaining America’s Aerospace Force. Kimberly Willmott (BTAS) Tech Data Division Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio (888) 471-9674 x8522.
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Air Force Materiel Command Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO11 Feb 04 Developing, Fielding, and Sustaining America’s Aerospace Force Kimberly Willmott (BTAS) Tech Data Division Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio (888) 471-9674 x8522 I n t e g r i t y - S e r v i c e - E x c e l l e n c e
Agenda • Welcome to the Great State of Texas! • Objective • What is XSLT/XSL-FO • Strengths & Weaknesses • Tools • AF XML Approach • S1000D • Summary Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO 11 Feb 04
Objective YES! Is XSL-FO robust enough to produce production-quality printed and online documents? Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO 11 Feb 04
What is XSLT / XSL-FO? Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO 11 Feb 04
What is XSLT? Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations • W3C recommendation: Extensible Stylesheet Language • Published October 2001 • Used for transforming XML documents to presentation formats • Specification contains all of the web document transformation constructs from XSL • Takes advantage of the best features from the HTML spec for robust web delivery • The programming looks like another XML document Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO 11 Feb 04
What is XSL-FO? Extensible Stylesheet Language Formatting Objects • W3C recommendation: Extensible Stylesheet Language • Published October 2001 • Defines document type for representing page-oriented renditions of documents • Designed for print and online media • Works with server applications to produce a viewable/printable PDF document from the XML • Programming is just another XML document Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO 11 Feb 04
How XSL-FO Works Paper XSL Formatter PDF XSL Formatting Objects PDF XML XSLT Stylesheets XSLT Processor Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO 11 Feb 04
Strengths and Weaknesses Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO 11 Feb 04
Strengths • Easy to learn and widely supported • Easy to maintain • Uses XML as base syntax • Has good modularity features Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO 11 Feb 04
Weaknesses • Missing layout features • Index generation, LoEP • Rev marks • Creation of PDF links • Highest security level • Latest change level • Two-step XML-to-pages processing model impose performance issues Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO 11 Feb 04
Technical Documentation Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO 11 Feb 04
Characteristics of Tech Doc • Simple page models • Little or no arbitrary design elements (e.g., as in magazines) • Usually highly consistent within document types • Presentation tends not to change over time Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO 11 Feb 04
Tools Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO 11 Feb 04
Vendor Tools Open Source/Freeware • Apache FOP • PassiveTeX • IBM XML FO Composer (XFC) • SUN FO Implementation • Others (see www.w3.org/Style/XSL ) Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO 11 Feb 04
Vendor Tools Commercial Tools • Antenna House XSL Formatter • RenderX XEP • Epic 4.3 • XML Mind XFC FO-to-MS Word RTF • Adobe Document Server Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO 11 Feb 04
Air Force Use of XML Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO 11 Feb 04
Air Force Approach to XML • 2003 MSG/MMF began developing XSL-FO • Started with the baseline specification MIL-STD-38784 • Mapped FOSI elements to XSL-FO elements • Development of XSL-FO for other specifications is on hold Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO 11 Feb 04
XSL Code vs FOSI XSL-FO FOSI Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO 11 Feb 04
Demo Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO 11 Feb 04
Demo Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO 11 Feb 04
S1000D Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO 11 Feb 04
S1000D • XSL-FO being developed for S1000D spec • Descriptive and Parts Info data modules • AF Proof-of-concept • Started with 38784 XSL-FO • Mapped 38784 elements to S1000D elements • Voila! Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO 11 Feb 04
S1000D Demo Antenna House - XSL Formatter Saxon Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO 11 Feb 04
Summary • XSLT and XSL-FO is a viable solution for hardcopy print • Interest in FO definitely increasing • Value of FO-based composition is clear • Lower start-up cost • Lower maintenance cost • Strong XSL-FO community Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO 11 Feb 04
Resources • See W3C site (www.w3.org) for current list of FO implementations, tutorials, etc. • Mail lists: XSL-FO@yahoogroups.com, www-xsl-fo@w3.org Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO 11 Feb 04
Contact Information Kimberly Willmott (888)471-9674 x8522 Kimberly.Willmott@wpafb.af.mil Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO 11 Feb 04
Questions? Hardcopy Generation Using XSLT and XSL-FO 11 Feb 04