ProductsStyleVisionStylesheet DesignerXSLT for Word

Altova StyleVision® 2011 includes support for designing XSLT stylesheets for output in DOCX, the document type for Microsoft® Word 2007+ under the new Office Open XML (OOXML) file format specification.

Office Open XML (also commonly known as OOXML or OpenXML) is a powerful emerging specification for electronic documents and is the default file format for the popular Microsoft Office 2007 suite. Recently approved by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) as an International Standard, OOXML was originally developed by Microsoft to replace the binary file formats that it had traditionally used for data storage.

The new DOCX format from the OOXML specification promises to offer increased information compatibility, integration, and transparency, as well as increased security and, according to the Ecma, smaller file size for Word documents. As more and more companies make the leap to Word 2007+, StyleVision’s support for this and other prevalent output formats will enable you to meet their needs.

The WordprocessingML (WordML) vocabulary forms the basis for the DOCX format, while associated assets, including images, media, and formatting information, are packaged as separate files in a ZIP archive.

StyleVision facilitates OOXML development by allowing you to graphically design and implement XSLT stylesheets for conformant Word output from XML, XBRL, and/or database data. The XSLT stylesheet that you create will dictate the structure and design elements that accompany the text to form stylized output renderings. Your stylesheet design also simultaneously generates output in HTML, RTF, and PDF, as well as the corresponding Altova Authentic® electronic form.

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Visual XSLT Design

The unique StyleVision approach to XSLT design makes creating presentation stylesheets for Word faster and easier than ever before. StyleVision takes the input from your visual stylesheet design and writes XSLT code behind the scenes, allowing you to concentrate on the design requirements, rather than the sometimes complex demands of writing transformation code.

Developers can make the choice between using either XSLT 1.0 or 2.0 to encode their individual designs, though as the more recent of the W3C standards, XSLT 2.0 is selected by default. XSLT 2.0 is also required for OOXML transformations. For information on the new features in XSLT 2.0, see the XSLT 2.0 page in the Solutions Center.

Simple Stylesheet Creation

In order to create an XSLT stylesheet, you need to have an existing XML Schema, DTD, XBRL taxonomy, or database schema available to denote the target data structure - or StyleVision can generate a content model behind-the-scenes based on a sample XML instance. Simply open this document in StyleVision, and the content model will appear in the Schema Tree entry helper window. You can connect to multiple schemas to incorporate data from different sources into your design.

You then have the option to associate a working XML file, XBRL instance, or database as the source which will allow you to preview your output, populated with the appropriate data.

To make elements and attributes available to your XSLT design, simply drag and drop the relevant entities onto the design pane, and StyleVision will prompt you to specify how you want the node to be represented in you design (paragraph, table, image, etc.). This information will be rendered dynamically in Word and other formats based on the data in your source document(s). You can also insert static content such as header text, images, hyperlinks, and so on.

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StyleVision also offers an alternative design paradigm for those more accustomed to working with common desktop publishing applications. For more information, see the Electronic Forms Design page.

The StyleVision interface provides advanced entry helper windows for viewing, editing, and assigning style and layout properties to each element or document section in your design. Learn more about these windows and the functionality they provide on the Stylesheet Design page.

To meet the specific rendering requirements of XBRL financial data, StyleVision includes an easy to use XBRL Table Wizard. Learn more about this feature on the XBRL Rendering page.

Modular Styling with CSS

StyleVision supports advanced styling functionality for building pages based on the WordprocessingML/WordML vocabulary, including support for CSS (Cascading Stylesheets). CSS allows you to take a modular approach to stylesheet design, keeping presentation information (font size, background color, etc.) separate from content. You can add precise visual styling rules to your designs using built in CSS styles, and you can import your own CSS documents to leverage work you’ve already completed.

Advanced Stylesheet Functions

Stylesheets designed in StyleVision support advanced functionality such as conditional templates, auto-calculations, business logic validation, sorting data on output, and much more. Read more about advanced stylesheet functions.

Packaging

The OOXML specification requires that XML and other data files be stored in a specially structured ZIP package. When you generate a Word document in StyleVision, the intelligent processing engine separates setting and style data from document text behind the scenes to produce a conformant DOCX archive.

Single Source Publishing

The practice of single source publishing allows the same content reused across disparate document formats. By storing presentation information separately from content, organizations are able to maximize productivity in publishing and documentation workflows by making preserving a clean master data store, where edits need only be made once for delivery to multiple mediums.

StyleVision lets you fully capitalize on the single source publishing model by seamlessly generating standards-conformant XSLT 2.0 transformation code in not only Word, but also HTML, RTF, PDF, and an Authentic electronic form. This code, along with the resulting Word output, can by viewed at any time by clicking on the Preview Word 2007 tab in the design window.

Your stylesheets and output files are all generated based on the single design you create, and you can save the standards-conformant XSLT stylesheets and corresponding output files separately at any time for use on their own or in other applications.

Read about Altova’s extensive line of tools for XML development.

StyleVision’s advanced support for the new OOXML specification used in Microsoft Word and other Office products makes it a necessary addition to the development arsenal of anyone targeting Microsoft Office 2007+ users. Download a free 30-day trial of StyleVision.