paulb@104 | 1 | Introduction
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paulb@104 | 2 | ------------
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paulb@76 | 3 |
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paulb@104 | 4 | XSLTools is a collection of modules and packages facilitating the development
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paulb@104 | 5 | of applications based on XML, XSL stylesheets and transformations, notably Web
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paulb@104 | 6 | applications involving complicated Web forms potentially consisting of
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paulb@104 | 7 | editable hierarchical structures and potentially involving "live" or "in-page"
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paulb@104 | 8 | dynamic updates to portions of those Web forms.
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paulb@28 | 9 |
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paulb@109 | 10 | Quick Start
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paulb@109 | 11 | -----------
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paulb@109 | 12 |
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paulb@109 | 13 | Try running the demo:
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paulb@109 | 14 |
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paulb@109 | 15 | python tools/demo.py
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paulb@109 | 16 |
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paulb@109 | 17 | An introductory guide to creating applications can be found in the docs
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paulb@109 | 18 | directory - see docs/index.html for the start page.
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paulb@109 | 19 |
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paulb@109 | 20 | Contact, Copyright and Licence Information
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paulb@109 | 21 | ------------------------------------------
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paulb@109 | 22 |
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paulb@109 | 23 | The current Web page for XSLTools at the time of release is:
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paulb@109 | 24 |
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paulb@109 | 25 | http://www.boddie.org.uk/python/XSLTools.html
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paulb@109 | 26 |
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paulb@109 | 27 | Copyright and licence information can be found in the docs directory - see
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paulb@194 | 28 | docs/COPYING.txt, docs/LICENCE.txt and docs/LICENCE-Sarissa.txt for more
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paulb@194 | 29 | information.
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paulb@109 | 30 |
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paulb@104 | 31 | Dependencies
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paulb@104 | 32 | ------------
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paulb@104 | 33 |
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paulb@104 | 34 | XSLTools has the following basic dependencies:
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paulb@28 | 35 |
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paulb@104 | 36 | Package Release Information
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paulb@104 | 37 | ------- -------------------
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paulb@104 | 38 |
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paulb@448 | 39 | libxml2dom 0.3
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paulb@185 | 40 | libxml2 Tested with 2.6.17
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paulb@185 | 41 | libxslt Tested with 1.1.12
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paulb@28 | 42 |
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paulb@449 | 43 | The example Web applications require WebStack (release 1.1.1 or later).
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paulb@329 | 44 | The example PyQt applications have been tested with PyQt 3.15.
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paulb@104 | 45 |
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paulb@424 | 46 | New in XSLTools 0.3 (Changes since XSLTools 0.2)
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paulb@424 | 47 | ------------------------------------------------
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paulb@424 | 48 |
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paulb@424 | 49 | * Introduced copying of multiple-choice value element contents so that
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paulb@424 | 50 | option element labels can differ from the underlying values.
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paulb@447 | 51 | * Added internationalisation support, providing the template:i18n annotation
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paulb@447 | 52 | and the template:i18n extension function.
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paulb@447 | 53 | * Updated the documentation to cover the above new features.
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paulb@449 | 54 | * Fixed non-GET/POST request method handling in WebResources.
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paulb@424 | 55 | * Added the xslform_preparemacro.py script.
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paulb@453 | 56 | * Added an experimental template:range extension function.
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paulb@424 | 57 |
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paulb@190 | 58 | New in XSLTools 0.2 (Changes since XSLTools 0.1)
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paulb@190 | 59 | ------------------------------------------------
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paulb@190 | 60 |
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paulb@231 | 61 | * Made a new XSLTools package and moved XSLOutput into it.
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paulb@252 | 62 | * Improved serialisation of transformation results so that output options
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paulb@252 | 63 | are observed (in some cases, at least).
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paulb@252 | 64 | * Fixed stylesheet and reference document paths so that libxslt should not
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paulb@252 | 65 | now become confused by ambiguous relative paths.
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paulb@286 | 66 | * Added expression parameters to XSLOutput.Processor so that in-document
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paulb@286 | 67 | data can be used to, for example, initialise multiple-choice field values.
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paulb@252 | 68 | * Added input/initialiser support so that input documents can be tidied or
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paulb@252 | 69 | initialised using information from the template.
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paulb@286 | 70 | * Added template:init for use with template:element in XSLForms to control
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paulb@286 | 71 | element initialisation where necessary.
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paulb@252 | 72 | * Added special high-level "macro" attributes (eg. template:attribute-field)
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paulb@252 | 73 | which should make templates easier to write and maintain.
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paulb@286 | 74 | * Added template:if to XSLForms, providing conditional output of annotated
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paulb@286 | 75 | elements.
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paulb@290 | 76 | * Added set_document to XSLForms.Fields.Form.
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paulb@400 | 77 | * Added prepare_parameters to the XSLFormsResource class in the
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paulb@400 | 78 | XSLForms.Resources.WebResources module.
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paulb@420 | 79 | * Added element-path, url-encode and choice XSLForms extension functions.
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paulb@286 | 80 | * Improved Unicode support in the XSLForms extension functions.
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paulb@231 | 81 | * Changed in-page requests to contain proper POST data.
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paulb@422 | 82 | * Fixed checkbox and radiobutton value detection in XSLForms.js.
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paulb@252 | 83 | * Updated the code to work with WebStack 1.0 changes and adopted the
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paulb@252 | 84 | new-style WebStack demonstration mechanism.
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paulb@286 | 85 | * Added XMLCalendar and XMLTable (to the XSLTools package).
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paulb@231 | 86 | * Added a dictionary (or word lookup) example application.
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paulb@286 | 87 | * Added a job candidate profile (or CV editor) example application.
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paulb@297 | 88 | * Added a template attribute reference and an XSLFormsResource guide to the
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paulb@297 | 89 | documentation.
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paulb@392 | 90 | * Added Debian package support (specifically Ubuntu package support).
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paulb@231 | 91 | * Added missing COPYING.txt file.
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paulb@231 | 92 | * Renamed the scripts to avoid naming issues in system-wide installations.
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paulb@329 | 93 | * Added a PyQt example based on the system configurator example, with the
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paulb@392 | 94 | form prepared in Qt Designer. This example runs in PyQt and in a Web
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paulb@392 | 95 | environment without any changes to the application code. In-page updates
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paulb@392 | 96 | are currently not implemented in the Web version, however.
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paulb@190 | 97 |
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paulb@104 | 98 | Notes on In-Page Update Functionality
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paulb@104 | 99 | -------------------------------------
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paulb@28 | 100 |
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paulb@185 | 101 | Special note #1: Konqueror seems in certain cases to remember replaced form
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paulb@185 | 102 | content (when replaceChild is used to replace regions of the page which
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paulb@185 | 103 | include form elements). This causes the browser to believe that more form
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paulb@185 | 104 | fields exist on the page than actually do so, and subsequent form submissions
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paulb@185 | 105 | thus include the values of such removed fields. A special hack is in place to
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paulb@185 | 106 | disable form fields by changing their names, thus causing Konqueror to not
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paulb@185 | 107 | associate such fields with the real, active fields; this hack does not seem to
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paulb@185 | 108 | cause problems for Mozilla. This needs some investigation to determine in
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paulb@185 | 109 | exactly which circumstances the problem arises.
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paulb@185 | 110 |
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paulb@185 | 111 | Special note #2: Konqueror also seems to crash if asked to find elements using
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paulb@185 | 112 | an empty 'id' attribute string. This needs some investigation to see if it
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paulb@185 | 113 | really is the getElementById call that causes the crash.
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paulb@125 | 114 |
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paulb@221 | 115 | Special note #3: Konqueror's XMLHttpRequest seems to append null characters to
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paulb@221 | 116 | the end of field values. Attempting to prune them before the request is sent
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paulb@221 | 117 | fails with a function like the following:
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paulb@221 | 118 |
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paulb@221 | 119 | function fixValue(fieldValue) {
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paulb@221 | 120 | if (fieldValue.length == 0) {
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paulb@221 | 121 | return fieldValue;
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paulb@221 | 122 | } else if (fieldValue[fieldValue.length - 1] == '\0') {
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paulb@221 | 123 | return fieldValue.substr(0, fieldValue.length - 1);
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paulb@221 | 124 | } else {
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paulb@221 | 125 | return fieldValue;
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paulb@221 | 126 | }
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paulb@221 | 127 | }
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paulb@221 | 128 |
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paulb@221 | 129 | This may be because it is the entire message that is terminated with the null
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paulb@221 | 130 | character, and that this happens only upon sending the message. Consequently,
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paulb@221 | 131 | some frameworks (notably mod_python) do not support in-page functionality when
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paulb@221 | 132 | used from Konqueror.
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paulb@207 | 133 |
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paulb@104 | 134 | Various browsers (eg. Mozilla/Firefox, Konqueror) will not allow the
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paulb@185 | 135 | XMLHttpRequest in-page updates to function unless the URL used in the
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paulb@185 | 136 | requestUpdate JavaScript function is compatible with the URL at which the
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paulb@185 | 137 | browser finds the application. Currently, relative URLs are in use to avoid
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paulb@185 | 138 | this issue of compatibility, but should an absolute URL be deduced using the
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paulb@185 | 139 | WebStack API and then used, it may be possible that the values returned by
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paulb@185 | 140 | that API do not match the actual addresses entered into the address bar of the
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paulb@185 | 141 | browser.
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paulb@28 | 142 |
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paulb@104 | 143 | To check the behaviour of the applications, it is possible to view the
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paulb@104 | 144 | document source of the pages served by applications and to verify that the
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paulb@185 | 145 | URLs mentioned in the JavaScript function calls (to 'requestUpdate') either be
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paulb@185 | 146 | a relative link or involve a URL similar to that which appears in the
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paulb@185 | 147 | browser's address bar. In some environments, the use of 'localhost' addresses
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paulb@185 | 148 | often confuses the browser and server; one workaround is to use real host
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paulb@185 | 149 | names or addresses instead of 'localhost'.
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paulb@155 | 150 |
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paulb@166 | 151 | Choosing an element-path:
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paulb@166 | 152 |
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paulb@166 | 153 | When specifying the "context" of the in-page update, one must imagine which
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paulb@166 | 154 | element the template fragment should operate within. If the template:id
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paulb@166 | 155 | attribute marks a particular section, then the element-path should be a path
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paulb@166 | 156 | to the applicable context element for that section in the complete template
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paulb@166 | 157 | document. Note that if a template:element attribute appears on the same
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paulb@166 | 158 | element as the template:id attribute then the element-path should refer to the
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paulb@166 | 159 | element specified in the template:element attribute.
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paulb@166 | 160 |
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paulb@166 | 161 | Choosing where to put template:attribute, template:id and id:
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paulb@166 | 162 |
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paulb@166 | 163 | When specifying the extent of a template fragment, one must be sure not to put
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paulb@166 | 164 | the template:id attribute on the same element as a template:attribute
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paulb@166 | 165 | annotation; otherwise, the generated code will be improperly extracted as a
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paulb@166 | 166 | fragment producing two versions of the element - one for when the specified
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paulb@166 | 167 | attribute is present, and one for when it is not present. Generally,
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paulb@166 | 168 | template:id and id can be placed on the same node, however.
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paulb@173 | 169 |
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paulb@173 | 170 | Stable element ordering and element-path:
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paulb@173 | 171 |
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paulb@173 | 172 | Within the element-path, the numbering of the elements will start at 1.
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paulb@173 | 173 | Therefore it is vital to choose a region of the form data structure with the
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paulb@173 | 174 | element-path which is isolated from surrounding elements whose positions would
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paulb@173 | 175 | otherwise be dependent on a stable ordering of elements, and whose processing
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paulb@173 | 176 | would be disrupted if some new elements suddenly appeared claiming the same
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paulb@173 | 177 | positions in the document. For example:
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paulb@173 | 178 |
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paulb@173 | 179 | <item value=""> .../item$1/value
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paulb@173 | 180 | <type value=""/> .../item$1/type$1/value
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paulb@173 | 181 | <comment value=""/> .../item$1/comment$2/value
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paulb@173 | 182 | </item>
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paulb@173 | 183 |
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paulb@173 | 184 | In-page update...
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paulb@173 | 185 |
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paulb@173 | 186 | <comment value=""/> .../item$1/comment$1/value
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paulb@173 | 187 |
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paulb@173 | 188 | Notes on XSL
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paulb@173 | 189 | ------------
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paulb@173 | 190 |
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paulb@173 | 191 | libxslt seems to be quite liberal on the definition of runtime parameters, in
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paulb@173 | 192 | that there is no apparent need to explicitly declare the corresponding global
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paulb@173 | 193 | variables in stylesheets. Whilst this is nice, we may eventually need to
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paulb@173 | 194 | detect such variables and add them in the preparation process.
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paulb@184 | 195 |
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paulb@184 | 196 | Release Procedures
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paulb@184 | 197 | ------------------
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paulb@184 | 198 |
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paulb@201 | 199 | Update the XSLTools/__init__.py and XSLForms/__init__.py __version__
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paulb@201 | 200 | attributes.
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paulb@184 | 201 | Change the version number and package filename/directory in the documentation.
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paulb@184 | 202 | Change code examples in the documentation if appropriate.
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paulb@184 | 203 | Update the release notes (see above).
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paulb@184 | 204 | Check the setup.py file and ensure that all package directories are mentioned.
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paulb@207 | 205 | Check the release information in the PKG-INFO file and in the package
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paulb@207 | 206 | changelog (and other files).
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paulb@184 | 207 | Tag, export.
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paulb@184 | 208 | Generate the API documentation.
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paulb@184 | 209 | Remove generated .pyc files: rm `find . -name "*.pyc"`
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paulb@184 | 210 | Archive, upload.
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paulb@184 | 211 | Upload the introductory documentation.
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paulb@184 | 212 | Update PyPI, PythonInfo Wiki, Vaults of Parnassus entries.
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paulb@184 | 213 |
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paulb@184 | 214 | Generating the API Documentation
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paulb@184 | 215 | --------------------------------
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paulb@184 | 216 |
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paulb@184 | 217 | In order to prepare the API documentation, it is necessary to generate some
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paulb@184 | 218 | Web pages from the Python source code. For this, the epydoc application must
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paulb@231 | 219 | be available on your system. Then, inside the distribution directory, run the
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paulb@184 | 220 | apidocs.sh tool script as follows:
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paulb@184 | 221 |
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paulb@184 | 222 | ./tools/apidocs.sh
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paulb@184 | 223 |
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paulb@184 | 224 | Some warnings may be generated by the script, but the result should be a new
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paulb@231 | 225 | apidocs directory within the distribution directory.
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paulb@218 | 226 |
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paulb@218 | 227 | Making Packages
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paulb@218 | 228 | ---------------
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paulb@218 | 229 |
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paulb@312 | 230 | To make Debian-based packages:
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paulb@218 | 231 |
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paulb@312 | 232 | 1. Create new package directories under packages if necessary.
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paulb@230 | 233 | 2. Make a symbolic link in the distribution's root directory to keep the
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paulb@230 | 234 | Debian tools happy:
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paulb@218 | 235 |
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paulb@312 | 236 | ln -s packages/ubuntu-hoary/python2.4-xsltools/debian/
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paulb@218 | 237 |
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paulb@230 | 238 | 3. Run the package builder:
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paulb@218 | 239 |
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paulb@230 | 240 | dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot
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paulb@218 | 241 |
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paulb@230 | 242 | 4. Locate and tidy up the packages in the parent directory of the
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paulb@230 | 243 | distribution's root directory.
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