LibraryDeveloper PortalHTML and XML

Altova tools help developers work with HTML in conjunction with XML and databases, allowing data stored in XML (or databases) to be presented as HTML / XHTML pages or enabling you to convert legacy HTML content to XML for use in XML-based applications or Web sites. Learn about working with HTML and relevant support in Altova software applications below.

Though HTML and XML are both markup languages, each technology has a very different purpose: HTML is used to describe how data is displayed on a Web page, while XML is employed to describe the data itself. XML is not a replacement for HTML; in fact, the two technologies can complement one another when XML is used to represent data that is output in HTML or XHTML format online. This common scenario requires the ability to convert XML to HTML / XHMTL and convert HTML to XML.

Follow the links below to learn more about working with HTML, XML, and databases using the intuitive features available in Altova tools.

Displaying information stored in XML and relational database formats on the Web is a common requirement in most organizations. Unfortunately, the process often includes multiple steps and multiple technologies. For instance, XML documents can be transformed into HTML Web pages using XSLT (eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformations), but XSLT is a complex language that requires in-depth knowledge of XSLT functions and other related technologies like XPath. Relational database formats generally do not support XSLT transformations, and therefore may have to be converted to XML or HTML manually. Altova’s answer to this problem is StyleVision® 2008, a visual stylesheet designer that makes it easy to present XML and databases in HTML / XHTML and other popular formats.

StyleVision supports XML and relational databases as the source of any transformation to HTML / XHTML. Simply open an XML Schema or relational database schema in StyleVision and design your HTML page by dragging elements from your data model into its design pane. It’s easy to add formatting and layout guidelines using the available right-click menus and entry helper windows. StyleVision even supports built-in and imported CSS styles as well as JavaScript functions for creating advanced HTML Web pages. There is no hand-coding required – so you don’t need any prior experience with XSLT or XPath to use StyleVision.

When your design is complete, StyleVision autogenerates the required XSLT 1.0 or XSLT 2.0 stylesheet to display your XML or database content in HTML, and you can then view the HTML page as it will appear online. StyleVision® 2008 also simultaneously produces stylesheets to display your content in RTF, PDF, Word 2007 (OOXML), and Authentic electronic forms.

Many organizations employ XML for representing content and HTML for presenting that content online. Separating content from presentation in this manner provides many advantages. However, much legacy content exists solely as HTML pages, and the process of converting HTML to XML is a challenge since it is not a one-to-one conversion. To translate HTML content to XML without losing data, developers need to convert each HTML page into three separate files: an XML instance document that contains the page content, an XSLT stylesheet with the presentation information, and a schema that represents the data content model.

StyleVision lets you convert HTML to XML easily, using a visual interface. Instead of hand-coding a separate document for the XML instance and its supporting technologies, StyleVision allows you to simply highlight content from an existing HTML file, drag it across the screen, and place it in a page content model. The data is then converted the data behind the scenes and you are presented you with standard-conformant XML, XSLT, and schema (XML Schema or DTD) documents.

In addition, once you’ve converted HTML to XML, StyleVision automatically provides you with the corresponding XSLT and XSL:FO stylesheets to output your content in RTF, PDF, and Word 2007 (OOXML).

Whether you’re converting legacy HTML to XML or transforming database and XML data into HTML/XHTML Web pages, StyleVision offers a powerful, yet easy to use, visual interface to increase your productivity and efficiency. Check out StyleVision® 2008 for yourself – download a free 30-day trial.