Re: [xsl] Can Saxon create intermediate XSL-FO files ?

["Jay Bryant" <jay@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Assume I apply a XSL-FO stylesheet onto a XML document.
>
> Other XML tools mostly create immediately the target (e.g. pdf file)
> without creating the intermediate XSL-FO file first.
>
> Does Saxon provide an option to create this intermediate XSL-FO file ?
>
> Are XSL-FO stylesheets insofar treated as "normal" XSLT stylesheets ?
>
> Ben

Hi, Ben,

XSL-FO is just another flavor of XML, so any (compliant) XSLT processor can 
create FO just as it would process any other kind of XML.

I bet the other XML tools you mention create intermediate FO 
representations. However, I bet they do it in memory rather than in a file, 
so you never see it. Some FO processors have an option to generate the 
intermediate representation, which can be very handy for debugging.

Because Saxon is my favorite XSLT processor, I've been using Saxon to create 
XSL-FO for years. Then I run the resulting FO document through FOP (Apache's 
Formatting Objects Processor) to get PDF files.

Jay Bryant
Bryant Communication Services