ProductsStyleVisionAdvanced Stylesheet Functions

Altova StyleVision® 2009 allows developers to design stylesheets and output in multiple formats that support advanced functions such as business logic validation, rich input formatting, date control, and much more.

In addition to XSLT 1.0 and XPath 1.0, StyleVision includes full support for XSLT 2.0 and XPath 2.0. Using the new XSLT and XPath specifications allows you to design more powerful, more advanced functions in your presentation stylesheets and database reports. To read more about the benefits of choosing XSLT 2.0 for your stylesheets, check out the XSLT 2.0 page in the Solutions Center.

Conditional templates for dynamic presentation

Conditional templates based on XPath expressions allow you to design forms with variable layout and presentation that changes based on source data in the XML file(s) or database.

Conditions can be specified for any element in your content model using the Properties entry-helper window and are triggered by logical statements enabled by XPath 1.0/2.0 expressions. The Properties entry-helper includes a button to launch the XPath builder (described below) to help you create these XPath expressions quickly and easily.

You can also set define output-based conditions, which present variable results depending on the output format. Though one of the main advantages of StyleVision is its ability to produce output in multiple media that share a common layout and design, it sometimes makes sense to vary the output slightly, for instance, to display certain text on a RTF document but not on the corresponding Authentic electronic form, or to hyperlink text in HTML output but display the actual URL for that link in the PDF. StyleVision allows you to fine tune your output to HTML, RTF, PDF, Word 2007 (OOXML), and Authentic e-Forms by setting conditions for each output format as needed.

Auto-calculation

Calculation of aggregate values is frequently used to summarize tabular data or provide other functions in both output and input stylesheet templates. The auto-calculation function in StyleVision is accessed through the intuitive XPath Builder, which allows you to use XPath expressions to compute values that are derived from elements or attributes in the content model.

XPath 2.0 support in StyleVision allows you to perform advanced calculations such as sum, average, total, etc., on groups of data, making your stylesheets and database reports much more sophisticated. To read more about the benefits of choosing XPath 2.0 for your stylesheets, check out the XSLT 2.0 page in the Solutions Center.

Template filtering

StyleVision supports template filtering using XPath, meaning that you can apply automatically filter amounts of data out of your stylesheet design output based on an XPath expression that is evaluated at runtime. This adds significant speed and memory enhancements for processing large documents.

XPath statements are built in using the intuitive XPath Builder, which allows you to input an expression manually or build one using the entry-helpers and auto-completion capabilities provided.

Rich input formatting

Stylesheets designed in StyleVision provide input options that allow rich formatting and guided input of date, time, and numeric values. While XML Schema mandates that all date values are stored in an XML file in ISO-8601 format , this format may not be familiar to some business users. Some databases may also store these values in formats that differ from the user's preferred format.

StyleVision's Predefined Format Strings dialog allows you to set input formatting for an element by selecting the format from a list or by typing in a new format.

The rich formatting options are available for output into HTML, RTF, PDF, Word 2007, and for guided input on Authentic e-Forms to provide users with a WYSIWYG interface for data entry.

Business logic validation in Authentic e-Forms

In addition to XML Schema or DTD-based validation, Authentic e-Forms created in StyleVision can be validated based on business-logic rules. For every input element in an Authentic electronic form, you can specify any number of additional validation rules based on XPath expressions that will be automatically enforced when users enter data in Authentic. You can also specify the corresponding error messages to display if a user enters data that violates a rule.

Experience the advanced stylesheet functions of StyleVision® 2009. Download a free 30-day trial of StyleVision.