RE: [xml-dev] XML stylesheets

["Bullard, Claude L (Len)" <clbullar@ingr.com>]

1.  Depends on experience.  Natch.  A novice really should take a 
class, find examples, get a good book or visit the numerous tutorial 
sites first.   This isn't novice work.   John E. Simpson has a good 
book on XSL coming out with lots of examples some of which are quite 
advanced.  He also covers XSL-FO.

2.  Depends on existing library.  Are all elements new, for example, 
can you cobble an existing stylesheet? Recommended: start collecting 
examples of various templates.  Harvest the XSLT maillists and other 
net resources because most of the time, like a lot of code, there 
are patterns of reuse.

3.  Are there modality requirements?  For example, do you want to 
create a table of contents?

4.  Tool automation would be good but I don't have much experience 
with these tools yet. 

The relationship of stylesheet size to DTD/Schema size is not one to one 
and I don't have metrics for that.  In general, a complex schema or 
DTD means an even more complex stylesheet.  There is of course, 
no necessary relationship of stylesheet to instance size.

I can usually create a basic stylesheet in a day or less.  Then 
I have to go back and refine that design.  It depends 
on how much functionality you want to insert and how much 
data filtering or reorganization you want to do.

Len
http://www.mp3.com/LenBullard

Ekam sat.h, Vipraah bahudhaa vadanti.
Daamyata. Datta. Dayadhvam.h


-----Original Message-----
From: Thom, John L. [mailto:thomj@spawar.navy.mil]

I need to know a few things:

How long does it take to create a stylesheet?
Experience of person who created such a stylesheet?
What does a novice need to understand/know to create stylesheets?

Received a DTD from a contractor with about 120 elements.
Is there a relationship between number of elements, size of content to that
of the stylesheet?