From: owner-xsl-list(_at_)lists(_dot_)mulberrytech(_dot_)com
[mailto:owner-xsl-list(_at_)lists(_dot_)mulberrytech(_dot_)com] On Behalf Of
Bret
Sent: 17 January 2004 05:05
Subject: [xsl] links for elements in xslt
I have .net page which gets input from the user . I
had to convert that input to xml and send it to the
3rd party database and get the output in xml . I
transform that xml to html using XSL file by using
Load and Transform methods in .NET
This is a typical ASP scenario.
My XSL is similar to this .
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform";>
<xsl:template match="/">
<html>
<body>
<xsl:for-each select="record">
<table>
<tr>
<td><xsl:value-of select="person-name"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select="person-city"/></td>
</tr>
</xsl:for-each>
</table>
</body>
</html>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>
This is has been done so far . Now I do want to
provide a links to all these elements(i.e
Person-name,Person-City..) so that when the user hits
the link, the link spawn's another search to the xml
database and returns the result .I Was wondering how
You might have to reconfigure your thinking of what XSLT can do; xslt is
not an event driven environment or scripting language, that is after the
transform the XSLT processor is no longer engaged....this doesn't mean
you cant achieve a solution. Its more a question of how you intend to
invoke the XSLT processor, and where you want logic to occur.
Consider the following snippet, amended from your original xslt;
<td><a
href="dosomemoreprocessing.asp?person-name={person-name}"><xsl:value-of
select="person-name"/></a></td>
Note I have used curly brackets {} which is shorthand (avt) for placing
the value of the element person-name element. Using HTTP GET ( that is
passing var within the url ), you pass the variable person-name to
another asp that performs another transform, that performs the query and
applies some xslt processing the the resultant xml. You may find that
its easier to have a generic ASP xslt processing page, then just leave
it to xslt to 'do the thinking'. This will undoubtably be something you
have done previously....
Additionally, by using xsl:param you can instruct the XSLT processor to
pass a parameter to your XSLT from the ASP page. That way you can let
ASP page be your 'controller', as set within a Model View Controller,
and let you XSLT provide the 'View', as well as updating the 'Model'.
It struck me that this sample chapter might assist;
http://www.perfectxml.com/wp/readchap.asp?CurBook=3
would i do that . Do i have to call etxernal objects
from XSL to call the the search .
When u say 'external objects', I understand it as 'do I have to call
another ASP page for initiating some other XSLT process'...which the
answer to is yes.
XSLT main purpose in life is to transform xml into another form of xml;
or in a larger sense transforming data into another form of data....many
people view it as a programming language perhaps because a lot of what
programming languages do is marshal data from one form to another.
In general, be careful where you place your application logic, in the
ASP or the XSLT....( though I don't work with ASP ), in general place
logic in XSLT if its more generally applicable, as you may find yourself
using the XSLT in another programming context; embed application
specific logic within the ASP. This is a rule of thumb that has served
me well over the years.
Any thoughts appreciated
.NET, whilst not incompatible with xslt per say, comes along with a
particular framework and approach here are a few sites which may assist
you;
http://www.dpawson.co.uk
http://www.topxml.com/
another good site which describes the MSXML approach ( microsoft's XSLT
processor which is used in .NET ) go here
http://www.perfectxml.com/msxmlxslt.asp.
Good luck, Jim Fuller
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