XslGenerator

Class

XslGenerator

Namespace

Avectra.netForum.eWeb.controls.XslGenerator

Developer

Avectra

Note: This is about the eWeb version of XslGenerator. For the iWeb version see XslGenerator (iWeb)

NetForum CMS supports the use of web services with a specialized .NET user control (ASCX) called XslGenerator.ascx. Combined with a Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) stylesheet, a NetForum eWeb Page Detail can consume a web service and transform the XML response through XSL to output well formatted HTML on the web page. A web developer can leverage the power of web services through the CMS Toolkit without writing any programming code.

XSL is a language similar to CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) that formats a raw XML document into a user-friendly HTML page.

Additionally, the XslGenerator control can leverage NetForum’s native DynamicXmlBuilder to create multidimensional XML documents with netFORUM data and transform that XML into readable HTML through an XSL stylesheet. Check below for Samples.


Features

The XslGenerator is similar to the List SQL content type. It can be used to pull data from netFORUM or from a web service and then output that data on a page through a Page Detail or a Default pane.

Although the List SQL content type can be simpler to use, the XslGenerator offers more power and flexibility in the follwing ways:

  • XslGenerator can display parent and child (and infinite grandchild) hierarchical data. FOr example, you might want to output a series of events, nesting sessions under each event, and nesting speakers under each session. Doing this with a List SQL is essentially impossible. The XslGenerator makes this easy.
  • XslGenerator can consume public web services (such as RSS feeds) that do not require authentication and output the results on a page.
  • XslGenerator allows you to work with Extensible Stylesheet Language which is much more powerful than the HTML that you can type into the content area of a List SQL.

Usage and Examples

To use the XslGenerator in eWeb, follow the next four steps, explained in detail below.

  1. First you will add a web Page Detail.
  2. Second, you will set the source of the Xml data using one of four options.
  3. Third, you will define the Xsl that will render the Xml data you set in Step 2.
  4. Fourth, optionally, you may define additional Xslt Arguments.

The rest of this page outlines more advanced scenarios and features, and lists various samples and case studies.

Step 1 - Page Detail Configuration

Step 2 - Configuring the XML Data Source

Step 3 - Configuring the XSL Source

Step 4 – Adding Optional XSLT Style Sheet Parameters

Sample XslGenerator Templates

Extensible Stylesheet Language Tips

Setting Up Next/Previous Paging in Search Results

Using XslGenerator to Output Search Results

Caching XML

Summary of XslGenerator Tags

Overriding the XslGenerator Control

Limitations