What is XFD and how to convert to XSL-FO/XSLT

Q: What's the difference between XFD and XSL-FO/XSLT and how can I convert documents in one format into the other?

A: XFD is an XML format derived from both XSLT and XSL-FO and developed by Ecrion especially for use with XF Designer. While XSL-FO contains both the layout information and the data, XFD only contains the document layout and, similar to XSLT, references an external data source (usually XML). The XFD syntax is an extension of XSL-FO, and as such it's very easy to convert an XFD to an XSL-FO and vice-versa. The main difference between the two formats is the root element.

For XSL-FO, the root element looks like this:

<fo:root xmlns:fo="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Format">

For XFD, the root is:

<xfd:document xmlns:xfd="http://www.ecrion.com/xfd/1.0">

Depending on the root element, Ecrion products will treat the file as either XSL-FO or XFD. Note however that in XSL-FO, all the dynamic XFD elements are ignored. This is because XFD is a stylesheet like XSLT and is conceptually different from XSL-FO. Conversion from XFD to XSLT is possible using Ecrion products, however converting XSLT back to XFD is not possible. If needed, XSLT functionality can be included in XFD documents using the xfd:global-xslt and xfd:inline-xslt elements.


Edited by gabig - 23 Jul 2010 at 8:43am