.net 2 and C# - how to show results of xslt as web page?

[imissphp]

I am using Visual Studio 2005 .NET 2.0. and C#.
Has anybody transformed xml using xsl and shown the results as a web page?

It should be a simple task.... but I can't find a way through the maze of
deprecated or incompatible classes in .NET
I have a dataset object (which has a GetXml() method which returns rows as a
xml string) that I want to transform using an xsl file. Then I want the
results in my web page. What is the best way to do this? When I copy examples
I find, I can't build because various classes are deprecated. So I replace
them with recommended alternatives and then they are incompatible.
I have tried using many different classes to do this with no success. This
is my latest attempt:

XmlDocument x = new XmlDocument();
x.LoadXml(ds.GetXml()); //ds is a Dataset object

// can't use XslTransform anymore, have to use XslCompiledTransform
XslCompiledTransform myXslTransform = new XslCompiledTransform();
myXslTransform.Load("questions.xsl");
StringWriter stringWriter = new StringWriter();
myXslTransform.Transform(x, null, stringWriter);
outputLabel.Text = stringWriter.ToString();

The ouputLabel is set to the raw xml data with the xml tags stripped and
with no transformation... not what I want. The transformation works fine when
done browser side in IE.

Rob

[Martin Honnen]

imissphp wrote:

I am using Visual Studio 2005 .NET 2.0. and C#.
Has anybody transformed xml using xsl and shown the results as a web page?

You might want to use Oleg's eXml ASP.NET 2.0 control:
<http://www.xmllab.net/Products/eXml/tabid/174/Default.aspx>

XmlDocument x = new XmlDocument();
x.LoadXml(ds.GetXml()); //ds is a Dataset object

XmlDocument is overkill if you simple want to do an XSLT transformation,
you don't need it at all for the transformation.

// can't use XslTransform anymore, have to use XslCompiledTransform
XslCompiledTransform myXslTransform = new XslCompiledTransform();
myXslTransform.Load("questions.xsl");
StringWriter stringWriter = new StringWriter();
myXslTransform.Transform(x, null, stringWriter);

myXslTransform.Transform(XmlReader.Create(new
StringReader(ds.GetXml())), null, stringWriter);

outputLabel.Text = stringWriter.ToString();

The ouputLabel is set to the raw xml data with the xml tags stripped and
with no transformation... not what I want.

Can you provide a minimal XML and XSLT stylesheet? It is hard to guess
where things go wrong without seeing the details. What kind of object is
outputLabel?

--

Martin Honnen --- MVP XML
http://JavaScript.FAQTs.com/

[John Saunders]

"imissphp" <im******@discussions.microsoft.comwrote in message
news:E9**********************************@microsof t.com...

>I am using Visual Studio 2005 .NET 2.0. and C#.
Has anybody transformed xml using xsl and shown the results as a web page?

It should be a simple task.... but I can't find a way through the maze of
deprecated or incompatible classes in .NET
I have a dataset object (which has a GetXml() method which returns rows as
a
xml string) that I want to transform using an xsl file. Then I want the
results in my web page. What is the best way to do this? When I copy
examples
I find, I can't build because various classes are deprecated. So I replace
them with recommended alternatives and then they are incompatible.
I have tried using many different classes to do this with no success. This
is my latest attempt:

XmlDocument x = new XmlDocument();
x.LoadXml(ds.GetXml()); //ds is a Dataset object

// can't use XslTransform anymore, have to use XslCompiledTransform
XslCompiledTransform myXslTransform = new XslCompiledTransform();
myXslTransform.Load("questions.xsl");
StringWriter stringWriter = new StringWriter();
myXslTransform.Transform(x, null, stringWriter);
outputLabel.Text = stringWriter.ToString();

The ouputLabel is set to the raw xml data with the xml tags stripped and
with no transformation... not what I want. The transformation works fine
when
done browser side in IE.

This sounds like your transform didn't work. Have you tried debugging it?
You can set breakpoints and everything. Just open it in VS.NET 2005, set
breakpoints, attach to aspnet_wp (or w3wp) and go.

John

[imissphp]

Thanks for your response John.
Sorry I'm new to VS.NET 2005, what is aspnet_wp and what do you mean by
attaching it? I have set breakpoints and inspected the objects but can't see
the transformation taking place, ie. I can't see the results as a property of
any of the objects, except the raw data in the stringWriter.

Rob

"John Saunders" wrote:

>
This sounds like your transform didn't work. Have you tried debugging it?
You can set breakpoints and everything. Just open it in VS.NET 2005, set
breakpoints, attach to aspnet_wp (or w3wp) and go.

John

[John Saunders]

"imissphp" <im******@discussions.microsoft.comwrote in message
news:73**********************************@microsof t.com...

Thanks for your response John.
Sorry I'm new to VS.NET 2005, what is aspnet_wp and what do you mean by
attaching it? I have set breakpoints and inspected the objects but can't
see
the transformation taking place, ie. I can't see the results as a property
of
any of the objects, except the raw data in the stringWriter.

Rob

"John Saunders" wrote:

>>
This sounds like your transform didn't work. Have you tried debugging it?
You can set breakpoints and everything. Just open it in VS.NET 2005, set
breakpoints, attach to aspnet_wp (or w3wp) and go.

An ASP.NET web application is hosted inside of a worker process. On Windows
XP, this process is called aspnet_wp. On Windows Server 2003, this is called
w3wp.

The "normal" way to debug a program is to press "F5". Another way is to
attach to the process in question. Use Tools->Attach to Process and select
the worker process. Click Attach and make sure that "Managed" is checked.

Now, just set breakpoints on your ASP.NET source code. In particular, you
might want to set a breakpoint before you call the transform. Then open the
stylesheet in VS.NET, and set a breakpoint, just as though it were a C#
program. A good place to stop is inside of your <xsl:template match="/">.
You can single-step, step into templates, view variables, etc.
Caveat: I have used the attach technique on ASP.NET applications, and I have
single-stepped through transforms. I have not done both at the same time, so
it's possible that part won't work. In that case, see if you can open the
stylesheet in VS.NET, and specify a sample XML file for it to work on in the
stylesheet's properties. You will then be able to set breakpoints,
single-step, etc.

Good luck,
John

[amdarling]

I think you need to have the StringWriter actually be writing to
something else, in my case I use a StringBuilder.

>Yours

myXslTransform.Load("questions.xsl");
StringWriter stringWriter = new StringWriter();
myXslTransform.Transform(x, null, stringWriter);
outputLabel.Text = stringWriter.ToString();

>Mine

StringBuilder SB = new StringBuilder();
Xsl.XslCompiledTransform xslt = new
Xsl.XslCompiledTransform();
xslt.Load(MyStyle);

using (TextWriter text = new StringWriter(SB))
{
xslt.Transform(MyUrl, null, text);
}

This works just great for me, plus the bonus of the "using" syntax
which makes sure that everything gets closed and disposed when done.
Uh, I forget where I read about that part, maybe the C# cookbook...

Anna

imissphp wrote:

Thanks for your response John.
Sorry I'm new to VS.NET 2005, what is aspnet_wp and what do you mean by
attaching it? I have set breakpoints and inspected the objects but can't see
the transformation taking place, ie. I can't see the results as a property of
any of the objects, except the raw data in the stringWriter.

Rob

"John Saunders" wrote:

This sounds like your transform didn't work. Have you tried debugging it?
You can set breakpoints and everything. Just open it in VS.NET 2005, set
breakpoints, attach to aspnet_wp (or w3wp) and go.

John