Introduction to XSLT

XSLT is a language used to convert XML documents into XHTML documents or other XML documents.

XPath is a language used for navigating within XML documents.

Before learning, you need to have the following basic knowledge:

Before you continue learning, you need to have a basic understanding of the following knowledge:

  • HTML / XHTML
  • XML / XML Namespaces
  • XPath

If you want to learn these projects first, please visit our Home page Access these tutorials.

What is XSLT?

  • XSLT refers to XSL Transformation (XSL Transformations).
  • XSLT is the most important part of XSL.
  • XSLT can convert one XML document into another XML document.
  • XSLT uses XPath to navigate within XML documents.
  • XPath is a W3C standard.

XSLT = XSL Transformation

XSLT is the most important part of XSL.

XSLT is used to convert one XML document into another XML document, or into other types of documents that can be recognized by browsers, such as HTML and XHTML. Typically, this is done by converting each XML element into an (X)HTML element.

Through XSLT, you can add or remove elements and attributes to or from output files. You can also rearrange elements, perform tests, and decide which elements to hide or display, etc.

A common way to describe the transformation process is,XSLT converts the XML source tree into an XML result tree.

XSLT Uses XPath

XSLT uses XPath to find information in XML documents. XPath is used to navigate through elements and attributes in XML documents.

If you want to learn XPath first, please visit our XPath Tutorial.

How Does It Work?

During the transformation process, XSLT uses XPath to define parts of the source document that can match one or more predefined templates. Once a match is found, XSLT will convert the matching parts of the source document into the result document.

XSLT is a W3C Standard

XSLT was established as a W3C standard on November 16, 1999.

For more information about the W3C XSLT activities, please visit our W3C Tutorial.