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   Re: [xml-dev] Future of XSL-FO at W3C??

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Ian Tindale wrote:

> On Friday 18 October 2002 3:16 pm, bryan wrote:
>
> >
> >
> >fo:block{space-before.optimum:5pt; space-after.optimum:3pt;}
> >.Section2{space-before.optimum:7pt;border-start-color:red;
> >border-start-width:2px;}
> >.bodyblock block{border-start-width:1px;}
> >.Title{width:44pt;height:75pt;background-color:blue;color:white;}
> >#section1body22{margin-top:11mm;}
> >
>
>
> I wonder how easy it would be to write an XSLT transformation that 
> eats the
> above and sorts out FO properties in the right places?

Let's go back to the real problem. The real problem is that there is a 
person interested in the "style" of the output who doesn't want to learn 
XSLT. Fine. They already know CSS. That's fine too. But it doesn't imply 
that they never have to learn anything OUTSIDE of CSS. The designer of 
the XSLT can merely define a simple XML input format that looks 
something like this:

<standard-block-style space-before-points="5" space-after-points="3"/>
<Section2-block-style space-before-points="7" border-start-color="red"/>
<body-block border-start-width-points="1"/>
<Title width-points="44" height-points="75" ...>

In other words, you define the customization parameters that will be 
input to your stylesheet (you could also use XSLT 
params/variables/inclusions for the same thing). Then the person who is 
afraid of XSLT does not use XSLT.

Now there is a need for constant communciation between the XSLT 
developer and the end-user in order to set up elements that map to style 
tweaks. But this communication is necessary even if XSL-FO could work 
with CSS because only through communication could the XSLT creator know 
what class names to work into the output as CSS hooks.

  Paul prescod





 

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