XSLT Cookbook 2e

Forget those funky robot toys that were all the rage in the '80s, XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Transformations) is the ultimate transformer. This powerful language is expert at transforming XML documents into PDF files, HTML documents, JPEG files.virtually anything your heart desires. As useful as XSLT is, though, most people have a difficult time learning its many peculiarities. And now version 2.0, while elegant and powerful, has only added to the confusion. "XSLT Cookbook, 2nd Edition" wants to set the record straight. It helps you sharpen your programming skills and overall understanding of XSLT through a collection of detailed recipes. Each recipe breaks down a specific problem into manageable chunks, giving you an easy-to-grasp roadmap for integrating XSLT with your data and applications. No other XSLT book around employs this practical problem-solution-discussion format. In addition to offering code recipes for solving everyday problems with XSLT 1.0, this refreshed edition shows you how to leverage the improvements found in XSLT 2.0, such as how it simplifies the string manipulation and date/time conversion processes. The book also covers XPath 2.0, a critical companion standard, as well as topics ranging from basic transformations to complex sorting and linking. It even explores extension functions on a variety of different XSLT processors, and shows ways to combine multiple documents using XSLT. Code examples add a real-world dimension to each technique. Whether you're just starting out in XSLT or looking for advanced techniques, you'll find the level of information you need in "XSLT Cookbook, 2nd Edition".

Sal Mangano has been developing software for over 12 years and has worked on many mission critical applications, especially in the area of financial trading applications. Unlike many XML/XSLT developers, he did not approach the technology from the standpoint of the Internet and web development but rather from the broader need for a general-purpose data transformation framework. This experience has given him a unique perspective that has influenced many of the recipes in this book. Sal has a master's degree in computer science from Polytechnic University.