ActiveXSL

UltraXML ActiveXSL is different to other XSL solutions in that it is the only active and real time version of XSL available.

ActiveXSL means that XSL scripts are performed on the fly while editing in real time. There is no longer a need to apply an XSL script to XML and wait for the results to be rendered. ActiveXSL allows users to create, edit and see the results of XSL immediately in real time as the edits take place.

There is also no need to understand XSL syntax; UltraXML creates XSL scripts automatically in the background. Users may use the XML tree or the XSL visual editor in order to create selective, conditional and hierarchal XSL template matches, loops and switches. The XSL code produced conforms to the Word Wide Consortiums official XSLT definition and may be exported and used in other products supporting XSL.

Importing XSL

XSL streams are imported as a single XSL text stream into UltraXML. On importing an XSL document it can be activated. Any number of XSL streams may exist in UltraXML but only one XSL stream per document may be active at any given time. Importing XML documents with links to XSL will automatically import the XSL stream and activate it.

Activating an XSL stream

On activating an XSL stream, the stream is burst into pieces; each piece is analysed, modified and put into the correct PP style definitions as native XSL code snippets. Any previous style definitions are deleted. More than one XSL section may be inserted into the same style definition. In other words a PP style may have more than one template match to act upon.

Since XSL is a very large and complex high level scripting language, the most useful subset of the XSL commands are  implemented initially to ActiveXSL. The remaining and less often-used XSL commands will be gradually phased into the supported XSL grammar over time.

Exporting XSL and XML

On exporting an XML stream the active XSL stream is built up from the component style definitions that have been created and exported as a single XSL file, which is linked from the XML.

XSL Processing and formatting

For every style, XSL code inside that style is analysed, parsed and compiled into a set of instructions which are then used during the UltraXML formatting process. In fact, working just like an interpreted language such as VBScript or Java Script.

The complete hierarchies for the XML streams are kept in memory, by use of an extremely fast, simplified, non-validating version of the XML parser. (This hand written XML parser will be used in place of the parser used to currently build the XML tree, thereby removing the need for the update XML button).

When the UltraXML formatter comes across XML tags, their XSL style definitions are parsed and compiled into a set of instructions. If a hierarchy match is found in the XML from these instructions, then the remaining XSL script is executed and the text is output using the embedded UltraXML PIs inside the <xsl:template>. If no match is found then the text is bypassed until the appropriate close XML style is found.