Re: [docbook-apps] Towards easier stylesheet customizations

[Steve Whitlatch <swhitlat@getnet.net>]

> maybe i am wrong, but i think there is an application available that 
> does exactly the same as Camille wrote. the application provides a 
> graphical user interface for modifying existing customization layers 
> based on the docbook stylesheets.

It's called DocBook XSL Configurator and it can be downloaded from:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/db-xsl-cfg

DocBook XSL Configurator provides a Java Swing GUI for doing essentially three 
things: 
  1) write a DocBook XSL customization layer to disk
  2) run various external subprocesses, such as an XML-to-FO transformation 
      or an FO-to-PostScript transformation
  3) save everything to a project

> as far as i tested the application, it does not include all of the 
> parameters specified.

Did you find a bug? Let me know please.

DocBook XSL Configurator cannot include in any customization layer the params 
that it does not know about. It needs to be updated to reflect appropriate 
changes in the DocBook XSL package every time the the DocBook XSL package 
changes. I think the best way to do that would be some automated process 
using XSL and the DocBook XSL source repository. As it is now, the 
application loads its data from a file that contains the FO params and the 
help text from the DocBook XSL package's documentation. That data file has to 
be updated by hand.

The application Jirka described:
> [a] graphical application that will let you load and save
> existing stylesheets customization and set majority of parameters using
> dialogs similar to common word processing applications.

is a more ambitious project. 

DocBook XSL Configurator has a defined, limited scope. I expect that within a 
few months I will update it to use the latest FO XSL params  . . . and 
perhaps the HTML params . .  even if I must still create the data file by 
hand . . . or maybe I'll wait and use the task as an excuse to learn _much_ 
more XSL.

With DocBook XSL Configurator, users are expected to understand the help text 
the GUI displays for each FO parameter, which may be too much to expect. (I 
don't understand all of them completely !!!!) The help text is copied from 
the HTML help pages that accompany the DocBook XSL stylesheets. 

The project is open to additional developers. DocBook XSL Configurator exists 
now and to the best of my knowledge does not have any bugs. Please let me 
know if you find any bugs. If anyone wishes to help, the big chore I can't 
really do myself is writing the XSL that would create the data file. That 
would make  DocBook XSL Configurator updates easier. 

Also, if you have any nifty XSL snippets you want to share with others, send 
them to me and I'll include them in the application's "From the Wild" 
section. Those snippets can then be included in the customization layers 
written out by DocBook XSL Configurator. 

see ya,

Steve Whitlatch