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Subject: Re: DOCBOOK: Re: DOCBOOK-APPS: Help - Reseting the chapter numbering
> Said Norman Walsh <ndw@nwalsh.com>: > > I'm torn about how to approach customization of the XSL stylesheets. > My current intuition is that I should probably expand on the template > approach so that there's a simple XML file that you write to indicate > what you'd like the stylesheet to do, then an XSL stylesheet chews on > that and spits out the customization layer that will do the right > thing. > > Off the top of my head, I don't even remember if the from attribute > on xsl:number is an attribute-value-template. It isn't, according to Michael Kay's book. It is a pattern, one of only three XSL elements that use patterns. I must admire your ambitious intuition. If I understand your idea, you would basically be writing a stylesheet generating system, based on input parameters provided by the user. You could sell something like that. I'm not clear why you would want to use XSLT to implement it, though. I get confused enough with XSLT writing out HTML. Using XSLT to write XSLT that writes HTML gives me a headache. ;^) It would be great if it works, that is, does what each user wants. But if it doesn't, I think tracing through why something doesn't work might be difficult. It might end up being a black box that only you can support. But, hey, if you think you can pull it off, most people would love it. Myself, I would be happy if you used variables wherever possible, and keep using XSLT "subroutines" like those in common.xsl to modularize particular functions. If necessary, I can create a modified template or subroutine to perform a customization that your parameters don't support. These go in the driver file that imports your main stylesheet file, so that your distribution files don't need to be touched. Your job is to keep the templates from interacting with each other too much. That way I can make small changes that don't break something else. It isn't that hard to modify a template that someone else wrote if it is well documented. I would like to see more of your <doc:template> elements inside the stylesheets explaining how things work. I would be willing to contribute to that effort. Think of your stylesheets as one of the biggest and most accessible XSL training grounds available. They exercise a lot of the XSL spec, and people learn quickly by example. My 2 cents. bobs Bob Stayton 400 Encinal Street Publications Architect Santa Cruz, CA 95060 Technical Publications voice: (831) 427-7796 The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc. fax: (831) 429-1887 email: bobs@sco.com
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