ProductsStyleVisionProgrammer ToolsXSL Functions

Altova StyleVision® 2012 allows developers to design stylesheets and output in multiple formats that support advanced XSL 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

Conditional templates based on XPath expressions allow you to design forms with variable layout and dynamic 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 eForms by setting conditions for each output format as needed.

Extension Templates

StyleVision also enables you to use the inherent flexibility of XPath to specify output for your designs. You can use XPath wildcards (*, node(), etc.) and the | operator, for example, to create user-defined templates that can output a wide range of variable data based on the referenced XML source code. This allows for full flexibility in selecting nodes and values from any XML location and in any combination within your document(s).

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.

Reusable XPath Expressions

StyleVision even lets you define your own XPath functions, which can be used anywhere in your stylesheet designs (i.e. conditions, auto-calculations, etc.).

Auto-Calculations

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.

Java and .NET functions can also be easily incorporated into the XPath expressions of auto-calculations. For more information on this feature see the Extensions appendix in the StyleVision Help file.

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.

Inline Processing Commands

StyleVision offers developers an almost unlimited amount of flexibility in designs through support for inline HTML, XSLT, and XSL:FO processing commands. This lets you use functionality that may not be natively supported by StyleVision.

User-defined elements or blocks can be inserted at almost any point in your design templates. For example, the screenshot below uses XSL:FO to insert a title page into a design.

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 eForms to provide users with a WYSIWYG interface for data entry.

Business Logic Validation

In addition to XML Schema or DTD-based validation, Authentic electronic 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 XSL functions of StyleVision® 2012. Download a free 30-day trial of StyleVision.