XML and XSLT

With XSLT, you can convert XML documents to HTML.

Display XML using XSLT

XSLT(Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations) is the recommended XML stylesheet language.

XSLT is much more complex than CSS. With XSLT, you can add/remove elements and attributes from the output file. You can also rearrange and sort elements, perform tests, and decide which elements to hide or display, etc.

XSLT uses XPath to find information in XML documents.

XSLT Example

We will use the following XML document:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<breakfast_menu>
<food>
<name>Belgian Waffles</name>
<price>$5.95</price>
<description>Two of our famous Belgian Waffles with plenty of real maple syrup</description>
<calories>650</calories>
</food>
<food>
<name>Strawberry Belgian Waffles</name>
<price>$7.95</price>
<description>Light Belgian waffles covered with strawberries and whipped cream</description>
<calories>900</calories>
</food>
<food>
<name>Berry-Berry Belgian Waffles</name>
<price>$8.95</price>
<description>Light Belgian waffles covered with an assortment of fresh berries and whipped cream</description>
<calories>900</calories>
</food>
<food>
<name>French Toast</name>
<price>$4.50</price>
<description>Thick slices made from our homemade sourdough bread</description>
<calories>600</calories>
</food>
<food>
<name>Homestyle Breakfast</name>
<price>$6.95</price>
<description>Two eggs, bacon or sausage, toast, and our ever-popular hash browns</description>
<calories>950</calories>
</food>
</breakfast_menu>

Before displaying in the browser, use XSLT to transform XML to HTML:

Example of XSLT style representation:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<html xsl:version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<body style="font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;background-color:#EEEEEE">
<xsl:for-each select="breakfast_menu/food">
  <div style="background-color:teal;color:white;padding:4px">
    <span style="font-weight:bold"><xsl:value-of select="name"/> - </span>
    <xsl:value-of select="price"/>
    </div>
  <div style="margin-left:20px;margin-bottom:1em;font-size:10pt">
    <p>
    <xsl:value-of select="description"/>
    <span style="font-style:italic"> (<xsl:value-of select="calories"/> calories per serving)</span>
    </p>
  </div>
</xsl:for-each>
</body>
</html>

Try It Yourself

XSLT Tutorial

If you want to learn more about XSLT, please visit our XSLT Tutorial.