Sams Teach Yourself XML in 21 Days | Day 10. Working with XSL Formatting Objects

Sams Teach Yourself XML in 21 Days, 3rd Edition

Day 10. Working with XSL Formatting Objects

Yesterday you began using XSLT to extract and format the data in XML documents into other forms. Today, you're going to take a look at the rest of the XSL specification: XSL Formatting Objects (XSL-FO). XSL-FO, which is far more involved than XSLT, lets you format data down to the last little detail, such as what font size to use and what margin size.

Today you'll see how to use software to format the data in an XML document into an Adobe Portable Data Format (PDF) file, and you'll be responsible for the complete visual formatting of data. However, note that although XSL deserves a place in Part II, "Formatting XML Documents," of this book, XSL is not in as widespread use as XSLT, so you shouldn't feel that you have to master today's discussion in order to master XML.

Here's an overview of today's topics:

Using the XSL formatting language
Formatting objects
Understanding the fo namespace
Formatting properties
Using Apache's Formatting Objects Processor (FOP)
Doing page layout
Using master pages
Understanding page sequences
Using block-level formatting
Using inline formatting objects
Using table-formatting objects
Using rules
Using graphics
Using links
Using lists
Using tables

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