including one XML file in another XML file

[Johan]

How can I include one XML file into another XML file (on the client
side, in Firefox)?

I think XInclude is just what I need, but Firefox doesn't support it:
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=201754

It seems I also can use an "external entity reference", but that
depends on a DTD and I'm using XML Schema. Is it also possible with a
Schema and how can I do it?

Here is exactly what I'm trying to do:

design.xml:
<?xml .....>
<root>
<design>....</design>
<library>.... </library>
</root>

Currently the 'library' element is inside the 'design.xml' file. I
want to put the library element into a separate xml file and include
it in all my design files. (I have a lot of designs and only a couple
of libraries).

The design.xml file contains a reference to an XSLT file that
visualizes the design. When you open the design.xml file in Firefox a
SVG (scalable vector graphics) file is created on the fly and shown to
you.

I also have an XML Schema file that specifies what all the valid
elements in the design.xml file are.

Can someone show me an example that accomplishes this? That would be
great.

thanks, Johan.

[fildpauz]

How can I include one XML file into another XML file (on the client

side, in Firefox)?

I'm kind of new to XML, but let me take a stab at answering this.
Depending on what you want the client to do with the document, it
seems you might be able to accomplish this at the stylesheet level
using document().

design.xml
<?xml ...>
<root>
<design... </design>
<library/>
</root>

library.xml
<?xml ...>
<library>
....
</library>

stylesheet.xml
<?xml version="1.0">
<xsl:styleshe et ... >
<xsl:template match="root">
<xsl:apply-templates select="design"/>
<xsl:apply-templates select="documen t(library.xml)/"/>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

I might not have the syntax quite right, but I hope you get the idea.
When the stylesheet is applied to design.xml, the processor will
access and handle the external file as if it were part of the source
document. For further info see the XSL section on handling multiple
documents: http://www.w3.org/TR/xslt#document

Good luck!

[p.lepin]

On Feb 21, 11:45 am, "Johan" <joh...@gmail.c omwrote:

design.xml:
<?xml .....>
<root>
<design>....</design>
<library>.... </library>
</root>

Currently the 'library' element is inside the
'design.xml' file. I want to put the library element into
a separate xml file and include it in all my design
files. (I have a lot of designs and only a couple of
libraries).

The design.xml file contains a reference to an XSLT file
that visualizes the design.

I don't believe what you want is possible, but there are
other solutions to the problem; document() on the XSLT side
in particular comes to mind. Proof-of-concept:

xform1.xml:

<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="xform.xsl "?>
<root library="1">
<design>1</design>
</root>

xform_lib_1.xml :

<library>
<design n="1">A</design>
</library>

xform.xsl:

<xsl:styleshe et version="1.0"
xmlns:xsl="http ://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:variable
name="lib"
select=
"
document(concat ('xform_lib_',/root/@library,'.xml' ))
"/>
<xsl:template match="root">
<result>
<xsl:apply-templates/>
</result>
</xsl:template>
<xsl:template match="design">
<xsl:value-of
select="$lib/library/design[@n=current()]"/>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

Note that client-side transformations in general should be
avoided, unless you know very well what you're doing. So,
unless you know very well what you're doing, consider
transforming your document server-side.

--
Pavel Lepin

[Johan]

On 21 feb, 11:11, "fildpauz" <fildp...@gmail .comwrote:

How can I include one XML file into another XML file (on the client
side, in Firefox)?

I'm kind of new to XML, but let me take a stab at answering this.
Depending on what you want the client to do with the document, it
seems you might be able to accomplish this at the stylesheet level
using document().

design.xml
<?xml ...>
<root>
<design... </design>
<library/>
</root>

library.xml
<?xml ...>
<library>
...
</library>

stylesheet.xml
<?xml version="1.0">
<xsl:styleshe et ... >
<xsl:template match="root">
<xsl:apply-templates select="design"/>
<xsl:apply-templates select="documen t(library.xml)/"/>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

I might not have the syntax quite right, but I hope you get the idea.
When the stylesheet is applied to design.xml, the processor will
access and handle the external file as if it were part of the source
document. For further info see the XSL section on handling multiple
documents:http://www.w3.org/TR/xslt#document

Thanks for this explanation. I only have one question remaining:
How can I perform xsl:apply-templates to the union of the design and
the library together?
(There aren't any templates that directly match elements in the
library. There template that matches the design element gets values
from the library when it needs them (using <xsl:variable name="..."
select="...">).

Johan.

[fildpauz]

Thanks for this explanation. I only have one question remaining:

How can I perform xsl:apply-templates to the union of the design and
the library together?
(There aren't any templates that directly match elements in the
library. There template that matches the design element gets values
from the library when it needs them (using <xsl:variable name="..."
select="...">).

Unless you have some reason not to do so, you can put templates that
apply to the library nodes in the same stylesheet. Alternatively you
can put those templates in an independent stylesheet and include it in
the main stylesheet using xsl:include (http://www.w3.org/TR/
xslt#section-Combining-Stylesheets). However, I have a feeling that a
proper solution to this problem would involve namespaces but that is
getting beyond my (in)expertise.

Cheers,
fildpauz

[Johan]

On 21 feb, 12:41, "fildpauz" <fildp...@gmail .comwrote:

Thanks for this explanation. I only have one question remaining:
How can I perform xsl:apply-templates to the union of the design and
the library together?
(There aren't any templates that directly match elements in the
library. There template that matches the design element gets values
from the library when it needs them (using <xsl:variable name="..."
select="...">).

Unless you have some reason not to do so, you can put templates that
apply to the library nodes in the same stylesheet. Alternatively you
can put those templates in an independent stylesheet and include it in
the main stylesheet using xsl:include (http://www.w3.org/TR/
xslt#section-Combining-Stylesheets). However, I have a feeling that a
proper solution to this problem would involve namespaces but that is
getting beyond my (in)expertise.

I don't have templates that match the library nodes. I only have
templates for the design. These templates 'get' a value from the
library when they need it (with xsl:variable).
So
<xsl:apply-templates select="documen t(library.xml)/"/>
doesn't match anything. That's why I want to call 'apply-templates'
and 'select' both the design and the library at the same time. So I
want the union of "design" and "document(libra ry.xml)". Is there a way
to do this?

[Johan]

On 21 feb, 11:30, p.le...@ctncorp .com wrote:

On Feb 21, 11:45 am, "Johan" <joh...@gmail.c omwrote:

design.xml:
<?xml .....>
<root>
<design>....</design>
<library>.... </library>
</root>

Currently the 'library' element is inside the
'design.xml' file. I want to put the library element into
a separate xml file and include it in all my design
files. (I have a lot of designs and only a couple of
libraries).

The design.xml file contains a reference to an XSLT file
that visualizes the design.

I don't believe what you want is possible, but there are
other solutions to the problem; document() on the XSLT side
in particular comes to mind. Proof-of-concept:

xform1.xml:

<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="xform.xsl "?>
<root library="1">
<design>1</design>
</root>

xform_lib_1.xml :

<library>
<design n="1">A</design>
</library>

xform.xsl:

<xsl:styleshe et version="1.0"
xmlns:xsl="http ://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:variable
name="lib"
select=
"
document(concat ('xform_lib_',/root/@library,'.xml' ))
"/>
<xsl:template match="root">
<result>
<xsl:apply-templates/>
</result>
</xsl:template>
<xsl:template match="design">
<xsl:value-of
select="$lib/library/design[@n=current()]"/>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

Note that client-side transformations in general should be
avoided, unless you know very well what you're doing. So,
unless you know very well what you're doing, consider
transforming your document server-side.

Thanks for your help, but there is one part that I don't understand:
<xsl:template match="design">
<xsl:value-of
select="$lib/library/design[@n=current()]"/>
</xsl:template>

I think "xsl:value-of" element selects the value of the library/
design[n] element and add it to the output. Is that right? (I don't
want to do that).

I will describe my problem in a little bit more detail:
The <libraryeleme nt contains one or more <typeelements . Each type
has an "id" attribute.
The author of the design.xml file can use type's from the library by
referring to their id.

Both the design and library (with all the types) used to be in the
same file, but now I want to put the <librarywith all the <type>'s
in a separate file.

[Johan]

On 21 feb, 12:06, "Johan" <joh...@gmail.c omwrote:

On 21 feb, 11:11, "fildpauz" <fildp...@gmail .comwrote:

How can I include one XML file into another XML file (on the client
side, in Firefox)?

I'm kind of new to XML, but let me take a stab at answering this.
Depending on what you want the client to do with the document, it
seems you might be able to accomplish this at the stylesheet level
using document().

design.xml
<?xml ...>
<root>
<design... </design>
<library/>
</root>

library.xml
<?xml ...>
<library>
...
</library>

stylesheet.xml
<?xml version="1.0">
<xsl:styleshe et ... >
<xsl:template match="root">
<xsl:apply-templates select="design"/>
<xsl:apply-templates select="documen t(library.xml)/"/>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

I might not have the syntax quite right, but I hope you get the idea.
When the stylesheet is applied to design.xml, the processor will
access and handle the external file as if it were part of the source
document. For further info see the XSL section on handling multiple
documents:http://www.w3.org/TR/xslt#document

Thanks for this explanation. I only have one question remaining:
How can I perform xsl:apply-templates to the union of the design and
the library together?
(There aren't any templates that directly match elements in the
library. There template that matches the design element gets values
from the library when it needs them (using <xsl:variable name="..."
select="...">).

Johan.

For clarification:
P.S. I want to 'include' the library.xml file into the design.xml file
before the XSLT processing happens (or at the start of the XSLT
processing before processing the <designelement) .

P.S. #2. I have to use client-side processing. Local users should be
able to edit the design.xml file and visualize it in Firefox. If I
could use server side processing I could use XInclude.

Johan.

[p.lepin]

On Feb 21, 2:14 pm, "Johan" <joh...@gmail.c omwrote:

On 21 feb, 11:30, p.le...@ctncorp .com wrote:

On Feb 21, 11:45 am, "Johan" <joh...@gmail.c omwrote:

design.xml:
<?xml .....>
<root>
<design>....</design>
<library>.... </library>
</root>

Currently the 'library' element is inside the
'design.xml' file. I want to put the library element
into a separate xml file and include it in all my
design files. (I have a lot of designs and only a
couple of libraries).

The design.xml file contains a reference to an XSLT
file that visualizes the design.

<xsl:styleshe et version="1.0"
xmlns:xsl="http ://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:variable
name="lib"
select=
"
document(concat ('xform_lib_',/root/@library,'.xml' ))
"/>
<xsl:template match="root">
<result>
<xsl:apply-templates/>
</result>
</xsl:template>
<xsl:template match="design">
<xsl:value-of
select="$lib/library/design[@n=current()]"/>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

there is one part that I don't understand:
<xsl:template match="design">
<xsl:value-of
select="$lib/library/design[@n=current()]"/>
</xsl:template>

I think "xsl:value-of" element selects the value of the
library/design[n] element and add it to the output. Is
that right?

No, it selects a design element that has the n attribute
with the value equal to the value of the current node.

(I don't want to do that).

>From your explanations it actually sounds to me as if

that's more or less what you want to do.

I will describe my problem in a little bit more detail:
The <libraryeleme nt contains one or more <type>
elements. Each type has an "id" attribute. The author of
the design.xml file can use type's from the library by
referring to their id.

Depending on exact way the author may 'use' the types from
the library, this might look similar to the following:

<xsl:template match="refer-to-lib-type">
<xsl:apply-templates
select="$lib/library/type[@id=current()/@id]"/>
</xsl:template>

The XML files would look like this:

<root library="librar y-identifier">
<design>
<refer-to-lib-type id="type-id-example"/>
</design>
</root>

<library>
<type id="type-id-example">
<whatever-needs-to-be-processed/>
</type>
</library>

--
Pavel Lepin

[Johan]

On 21 feb, 13:51, p.le...@ctncorp .com wrote:

On Feb 21, 2:14 pm, "Johan" <joh...@gmail.c omwrote:

On 21 feb, 11:30, p.le...@ctncorp .com wrote:

On Feb 21, 11:45 am, "Johan" <joh...@gmail.c omwrote:

design.xml:
<?xml .....>
<root>
<design>....</design>
<library>.... </library>
</root>

Currently the 'library' element is inside the
'design.xml' file. I want to put the library element
into a separate xml file and include it in all my
design files. (I have a lot of designs and only a
couple of libraries).

The design.xml file contains a reference to an XSLT
file that visualizes the design.

<xsl:styleshe et version="1.0"
xmlns:xsl="http ://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:variable
name="lib"
select=
"
document(concat ('xform_lib_',/root/@library,'.xml' ))
"/>
<xsl:template match="root">
<result>
<xsl:apply-templates/>
</result>
</xsl:template>
<xsl:template match="design">
<xsl:value-of
select="$lib/library/design[@n=current()]"/>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

there is one part that I don't understand:
<xsl:template match="design">
<xsl:value-of
select="$lib/library/design[@n=current()]"/>
</xsl:template>

I think "xsl:value-of" element selects the value of the
library/design[n] element and add it to the output. Is
that right?

No, it selects a design element that has the n attribute
with the value equal to the value of the current node.

(I don't want to do that).
From your explanations it actually sounds to me as if

that's more or less what you want to do.

I will describe my problem in a little bit more detail:
The <libraryeleme nt contains one or more <type>
elements. Each type has an "id" attribute. The author of
the design.xml file can use type's from the library by
referring to their id.

Depending on exact way the author may 'use' the types from
the library, this might look similar to the following:

<xsl:template match="refer-to-lib-type">
<xsl:apply-templates
select="$lib/library/type[@id=current()/@id]"/>
</xsl:template>

The XML files would look like this:

<root library="librar y-identifier">
<design>
<refer-to-lib-type id="type-id-example"/>
</design>
</root>

<library>
<type id="type-id-example">
<whatever-needs-to-be-processed/>
</type>
</library>

I don't have templates that match the library (or the types inside
it), so
<xsl:apply-templates
select="$lib/library/type[@id=current()/@id]"/>
isn't going to match anything.

I think the solution from fildpauz fits my needs the best:

stylesheet.xml
<?xml version="1.0">
<xsl:styleshe et ... >
<xsl:template match="root">
<xsl:apply-templates select="design"/>
<xsl:apply-templates select="documen t(library.xml)/"/>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

The only question that remains is this one:
"How can I perform xsl:apply-templates to the union of the design and
the library together?
(There aren't any templates that directly match elements in the
library. There template that matches the design element gets values
from the library when it needs them (using <xsl:variable name="..."
select="...">)) . "

"So I want the union of "design" and "document(libra ry.xml)". Is there
a way
to do this?"