22 The XML Files: Develo pment of XML/XSL A pplications Using WebS phere Studio
To make the XML data available to all kinds of browsers, we could transform the
XML document on the server and send it as a more generic form o f HTML to the
browser. XSL transformations on the server will experience major growth as the
specialized browser market expands. The would include browsers for Braille,
aural browsers, Web printers, handheld devices and other kinds.
The W3C has published a working draft for a new set of requirements for XPath
on February 2001. It has set of number of goals. It has stated that XML must:
Simplify manipulation of XML Schema-types content
Simplify manipulation of string-content
Support related XML standards
Improve ease of use
Improve interoperability
Improve i18n (International Language Support)
Maintain backward compatibility
Enable improved processor efficiency
For more information, visit W3C XSL Transformation (XSLT) Version 1 at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/xslt#section-Introduction
W3C Xpath requirements Version 2.0 at:
http://www.w3.org/TR/xpath20req
Cascading Style Sheet (CSS)Cascading Style Sheets were designed to help separate presen tation from data
with HTML. In the early days, Netscape and Microsoft continued to customize
their browsers, by adding new tags, to add functionality to the HTML. For
developers, it became difficult to create Web sites where the content of the HTML
pages was clearly separated from the presentation layout. To alleviate this
problem, the W3C created Style Sheets. Style Sheets are usually saved in files
external to HTML.
CSS allows the Web developer to define styles that apply:
To any given type of element (for example, all paragraphs)
To a class of elements (for example, all paragraphs which contain code
samples)
To a particular element (for example, the third paragraph)
This is achieved by specifying classes and IDs in the HTML, and applying styles
to them.
The benefits of CSS are well-understood: Web developers can easily change the
layout and presentation of a whole site by editing a single stylesheet. CSS can be