Basic Big Picture of XSLT

[Sam W]

OK, I'm a latecomer, having upgraded from FMP 3. I've done a few solutions back then and want to get my feet wet with XML and QuarkXpress.

I usually learn by digging into a small project. In this case, I want to setup an interface to create business cards for my company, which will feed the XML into QXP6 and create a pdf proof.

Reading up on avenue.Quark, it says I must use a DTD. OK, the only DTD I see is FMPDSORESULT and its sister, FMPXMLRESULT. None of those look like what I want to end up with, which is something like:

<name>Sam Walton</name>

Instead it looks like <data>Sam Walton</data> and all the other fields. And the examples I see in the Help seem tailored to web pages. Nice, but not what I was expecting.

So how would I make my field "t_name" turn into <name></name>? Digging into the helpfiles, I'm guessing I should use an XSLT.

Is that what Quark can use as a DTD?

Then if that's true, how does the "conversion" from my field "t_name" turn into <name></name>? How would it know which field turns into what?

Am I on the right track? Should I hand-code my XSLT and reference it via http in the export? thanx, sam

[h2o.be]

There are many examples how how to do this conversions here

http://www.filemaker.com/technologies/xslt_library.html

[Sam W]

Hmm.

I have already been there and downloaded some of their files and looked at them. Particularly the one for FMP to QXP.

But that's why I'm here. I'm not making the connection on how Quark understands any of these as a DTD. Techno-Design's solution appears to use a separate Quark Xtension and Quark doesn't see any of their files as a DTD.

I'm hoping someone will show me the "big picture" or "aerial view" of what's got to happen to the data to get it into the XML file that Quark understands, particularly the DTD.

thanks, sam

[Wim Decorte]

Hi Sam,

The DTD is really nothing more than a dictionary of things you can expect in some application's XML grammar. As you have experienced, each app uses it's own grammar and the challenge is in create the XSLT that converts one grammar into another.

There are some visual tools out there that can help you out: eXcelon Stylus Studio, XML spy, ...

HTH

Wim