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Re: [xsl] XSL in the AJAX world

2008-05-13 11:50:42
To develop an Ajax solution means that you understand that you are
after fast ligthweight and possibly frequent requests from client to
server.  The best data transport mechanism for this is JSON.  Now with
the support to create templates that transform JSON arrays into HTML
content on the client's browser using JavaScript libraries like
Prototype.js or JQuery, you can achieve a declerative solution,
certainly no where near a true XML/XSL solution, but at least your
aren't stuck writing out HTML elements in code.

Having said the above, I ALWAYS develop my initial page load from an
XML / XSL transformation.  I may even grab the first batch of data in
XML and transform with XSL.  However, I than rely on simple Ajax
requests to update and refresh active lists and content on the client.

Oh, and don't forget, that the JSON string result is easily, and let
me emphasize (EASILY) achieved with a server side JSON converter, such
as JSON.Net.  You can throw XML at the converter, complex structs, and
even compose your own JSON results using the API in your server side
code.

Karl..


On Tue, May 13, 2008 at 8:53 AM, Michael Dykman <mdykman(_at_)gmail(_dot_)com> 
wrote:
On Tue, May 13, 2008 at 11:36 AM, Nick Fitzsimons 
<nick(_at_)nickfitz(_dot_)co(_dot_)uk> wrote:hat
On Tue, May 13, 2008 4:19 pm, Andrew Shooner wrote:
 > I develop websites using the XSLT-based Symphony CMS, and another user
 > shared a comment he received that XML/XSLT was 'so 1990's'. It was
 > suggested to him to move on to JSON-based languages/technology. My
 > response was that it has to end up as XML in the end, so there is at
 > least some use for it.
 >
 > So my question is, are there many AJAX developers on this list, and if
 > so, how frequently, and in what capacity, do you use XSL in building or
 > customizing AJAX web applications?
 >

 I use XSLT to allow the same content to be served as either XML, HTML or
 JSON according to the client device's preference. Most JSON APIs offer
 similar choices; how many use XSLT to achieve this goal is a different
 question, but to my mind it's a perfect application of the technology.


Warcraft.

I'm building an application similar to Nick's model; XML output from
the application is matched with a device profile selecting an XSL1
template. Either the a processing instruction is merged in to the XML
or it is transformed, depending on the client device's capabilities.
In an Ajax envrivoment, JavaScript has access to the same transform
engine that the browser does which I use to do apply transforms on the
fly.

If you want to see a really slick browser example with lots of modern
eye-candy, check out Blizzard's home page for Worlds of Warcraft.


--
 - michael dykman
 - mdykman(_at_)gmail(_dot_)com

 - All models are wrong. Some models are useful.


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