XSLTools

README.txt

604:c08d83197463
2007-07-07 paulb [project @ 2007-07-07 16:54:58 by paulb] Updated release notes.
     1 Introduction
     2 ------------
     3 
     4 XSLTools is a collection of modules and packages facilitating the development
     5 of applications based on XML, XSL stylesheets and transformations, notably Web
     6 applications involving complicated Web forms potentially consisting of
     7 editable hierarchical structures and potentially involving "live" or "in-page"
     8 dynamic updates to portions of those Web forms.
     9 
    10 Quick Start
    11 -----------
    12 
    13 Try running the demo:
    14 
    15 python tools/demo.py
    16 
    17 An introductory guide to creating applications can be found in the docs
    18 directory - see docs/index.html for the start page.
    19 
    20 Contact, Copyright and Licence Information
    21 ------------------------------------------
    22 
    23 The current Web page for XSLTools at the time of release is:
    24 
    25 http://www.boddie.org.uk/python/XSLTools.html
    26 
    27 Copyright and licence information can be found in the docs directory - see
    28 docs/COPYING.txt, docs/LICENCE.txt and docs/LICENCE-Sarissa.txt for more
    29 information.
    30 
    31 Dependencies
    32 ------------
    33 
    34 XSLTools has the following basic dependencies:
    35 
    36 Packages                    Release Information
    37 --------                    -------------------
    38 
    39 libxml2dom                  0.4.3
    40 libxml2 and libxslt         Some combinations may not be reliable!
    41                             Tested with libxml2 2.6.17 and libxslt 1.1.12
    42                             Tested with libxml2 2.6.27 and libxslt 1.1.20
    43 
    44 The example Web applications require WebStack (release 1.2.3 or later).
    45 The example PyQt applications have been tested with PyQt 3.15.
    46 
    47 New in XSLTools 0.4.6 (Changes since XSLTools 0.4.5)
    48 ----------------------------------------------------
    49 
    50   * Improved the Login module, enabling the VerySimpleWithLogin example for
    51     various frameworks.
    52   * Relicensed under the LGPL version 3 or later.
    53   * Upgraded to Sarissa 0.9.7.8 (compatible with LGPL/GPL version 3), removing
    54     a test around DOMParser so that Konqueror 3.4.0 is still supported.
    55 
    56 New in XSLTools 0.4.5 (Changes since XSLTools 0.4.4)
    57 ----------------------------------------------------
    58 
    59   * Fixed the result of transformations in XSLOutput: proper document nodes
    60     are now produced.
    61   * Added an XSLForms.Resources.Login module which provides resources to
    62     support login screens and redirects.
    63   * Fixed newlines in the attributes created from fields in XSLForms: CR
    64     characters are no longer included since this caused the doubling up of
    65     newlines in Firefox.
    66 
    67 New in XSLTools 0.4.4 (Changes since XSLTools 0.4.3)
    68 ----------------------------------------------------
    69 
    70   * Fixed translation selection for the template:i18n annotation attribute,
    71     not just for the template:i18n extension function - more apologies for
    72     resulting output changes!
    73   * Improved the template fixing stylesheet and added some documentation for
    74     the script and the related expr-prefix attribute.
    75   * Introduced WebStack 1.2.2 EncodingSelector and encoding changes.
    76   * Added docstring and return value for the write_month_to_document function
    77     in XSLTools.XMLCalendar.
    78 
    79 New in XSLTools 0.4.3 (Changes since XSLTools 0.4.2)
    80 ----------------------------------------------------
    81 
    82   * Fixed translation selection when an unsupported locale is specified,
    83     choosing the first locale as the default (rather than exposing the values
    84     themselves as translations). Note that this is an unfortunate and subtle
    85     change which may affect application output - apologies are hereby offered!
    86 
    87 New in XSLTools 0.4.2 (Changes since XSLTools 0.4.1)
    88 ----------------------------------------------------
    89 
    90   * Added a content type check in the XSLFormsResource class, permitting
    91     non-form-based resources to access the raw request data, rather than have
    92     the data processed unsuccessfully and consequently discarded.
    93   * Added a script and a function to fix template namespaces after editing in
    94     a careless editor.
    95   * Changed libxml2mod and libxsltmod import details to try libxmlmods -
    96     suggested by Lucian Wischik for libxml2dom.
    97 
    98 New in XSLTools 0.4.1 (Changes since XSLTools 0.4)
    99 --------------------------------------------------
   100 
   101   * Made translations specified using the template:i18n annotation take
   102     priority over template:value annotations.
   103   * Added expression-based template:i18n annotations, and provided fallback
   104     output for such translations based on the value of the evaluated
   105     expression.
   106 
   107 New in XSLTools 0.4 (Changes since XSLTools 0.3.1)
   108 --------------------------------------------------
   109 
   110   * Changed the preparation of templates to produce rule-based output
   111     stylesheets, thus permitting recursive templates. This requires an extra
   112     expr-prefix annotation to be used in certain kinds of templates.
   113   * Added a recursive template example application.
   114   * Changed fragment production to use original template documents instead of
   115     output stylesheets.
   116   * Changed the in_page_resources attribute to provide the output identifier,
   117     thus changing the prepare_fragment method in Web resources so that only
   118     the fragment identifier needs to be supplied.
   119   * Added the XSLForms.Resources.WebResources.prepare_resources method for the
   120     preparation of initialiser and output stylesheets before an application is
   121     run.
   122   * Changed selectors to not automatically create elements in the form data
   123     document unless requested to do so. Introduced a Form.get_selector
   124     method in XSLForms.Fields.
   125   * Permitted the creation of hierarchies of elements in
   126     XSLForms.Utils.add_elements.
   127   * Introduced dynamic parameter evaluation for multiple-choice fields in
   128     order to support sources of multiple-choice values which reside in the
   129     form data document itself.
   130   * Added the FixNamespace.xsl stylesheet to correct documents saved by HTML
   131     editors which strip namespace prefixes.
   132   * Fixed filesystem encoding issues in the Candidate example; fixed language
   133     preference access in the Configurator and VerySimple examples.
   134   * Changed the BaseHTTPRequestHandler version of the Candidate example to
   135     store data in a subdirectory of the current working directory, thus
   136     allowing the demonstration application to work after package installation.
   137 
   138 New in XSLTools 0.3.1 (Changes since XSLTools 0.3)
   139 --------------------------------------------------
   140 
   141   * Fixed copyright and licensing information.
   142 
   143 New in XSLTools 0.3 (Changes since XSLTools 0.2)
   144 ------------------------------------------------
   145 
   146   * Introduced copying of multiple-choice value element contents so that
   147     option element labels can differ from the underlying values.
   148   * Added internationalisation support, providing the template:i18n annotation
   149     and the template:i18n extension function.
   150   * Updated the documentation to cover the above new features.
   151   * Fixed non-GET/POST request method handling in WebResources.
   152   * Added the xslform_preparemacro.py script.
   153   * Added an experimental template:range extension function.
   154 
   155 New in XSLTools 0.2 (Changes since XSLTools 0.1)
   156 ------------------------------------------------
   157 
   158   * Made a new XSLTools package and moved XSLOutput into it.
   159   * Improved serialisation of transformation results so that output options
   160     are observed (in some cases, at least).
   161   * Fixed stylesheet and reference document paths so that libxslt should not
   162     now become confused by ambiguous relative paths.
   163   * Added expression parameters to XSLOutput.Processor so that in-document
   164     data can be used to, for example, initialise multiple-choice field values.
   165   * Added input/initialiser support so that input documents can be tidied or
   166     initialised using information from the template.
   167   * Added template:init for use with template:element in XSLForms to control
   168     element initialisation where necessary.
   169   * Added special high-level "macro" attributes (eg. template:attribute-field)
   170     which should make templates easier to write and maintain.
   171   * Added template:if to XSLForms, providing conditional output of annotated
   172     elements.
   173   * Added set_document to XSLForms.Fields.Form.
   174   * Added prepare_parameters to the XSLFormsResource class in the
   175     XSLForms.Resources.WebResources module.
   176   * Added element-path, url-encode and choice XSLForms extension functions.
   177   * Improved Unicode support in the XSLForms extension functions.
   178   * Changed in-page requests to contain proper POST data.
   179   * Fixed checkbox and radiobutton value detection in XSLForms.js.
   180   * Updated the code to work with WebStack 1.0 changes and adopted the
   181     new-style WebStack demonstration mechanism.
   182   * Added XMLCalendar and XMLTable (to the XSLTools package).
   183   * Added a dictionary (or word lookup) example application.
   184   * Added a job candidate profile (or CV editor) example application.
   185   * Added a template attribute reference and an XSLFormsResource guide to the
   186     documentation.
   187   * Added Debian package support (specifically Ubuntu package support).
   188   * Added missing COPYING.txt file.
   189   * Renamed the scripts to avoid naming issues in system-wide installations.
   190   * Added a PyQt example based on the system configurator example, with the
   191     form prepared in Qt Designer. This example runs in PyQt and in a Web
   192     environment without any changes to the application code. In-page updates
   193     are currently not implemented in the Web version, however.
   194 
   195 Notes on In-Page Update Functionality
   196 -------------------------------------
   197 
   198 Special note #1: Konqueror seems in certain cases to remember replaced form
   199 content (when replaceChild is used to replace regions of the page which
   200 include form elements). This causes the browser to believe that more form
   201 fields exist on the page than actually do so, and subsequent form submissions
   202 thus include the values of such removed fields. A special hack is in place to
   203 disable form fields by changing their names, thus causing Konqueror to not
   204 associate such fields with the real, active fields; this hack does not seem to
   205 cause problems for Mozilla. This needs some investigation to determine in
   206 exactly which circumstances the problem arises.
   207 
   208 Special note #2: Konqueror also seems to crash if asked to find elements using
   209 an empty 'id' attribute string. This needs some investigation to see if it
   210 really is the getElementById call that causes the crash.
   211 
   212 Special note #3: Konqueror's XMLHttpRequest seems to append null characters to
   213 the end of field values. Attempting to prune them before the request is sent
   214 fails with a function like the following:
   215 
   216 function fixValue(fieldValue) {
   217     if (fieldValue.length == 0) {
   218         return fieldValue;
   219     } else if (fieldValue[fieldValue.length - 1] == '\0') {
   220         return fieldValue.substr(0, fieldValue.length - 1);
   221     } else {
   222         return fieldValue;
   223     }
   224 }
   225 
   226 This may be because it is the entire message that is terminated with the null
   227 character, and that this happens only upon sending the message. Consequently,
   228 some frameworks (notably mod_python) do not support in-page functionality when
   229 used from Konqueror.
   230 
   231 Various browsers (eg. Mozilla/Firefox, Konqueror) will not allow the
   232 XMLHttpRequest in-page updates to function unless the URL used in the
   233 requestUpdate JavaScript function is compatible with the URL at which the
   234 browser finds the application. Currently, relative URLs are in use to avoid
   235 this issue of compatibility, but should an absolute URL be deduced using the
   236 WebStack API and then used, it may be possible that the values returned by
   237 that API do not match the actual addresses entered into the address bar of the
   238 browser.
   239 
   240 To check the behaviour of the applications, it is possible to view the
   241 document source of the pages served by applications and to verify that the
   242 URLs mentioned in the JavaScript function calls (to 'requestUpdate') either be
   243 a relative link or involve a URL similar to that which appears in the
   244 browser's address bar. In some environments, the use of 'localhost' addresses
   245 often confuses the browser and server; one workaround is to use real host
   246 names or addresses instead of 'localhost'.
   247 
   248 Choosing an element-path:
   249 
   250 When specifying the "context" of the in-page update, one must imagine which
   251 element the template fragment should operate within. If the template:id
   252 attribute marks a particular section, then the element-path should be a path
   253 to the applicable context element for that section in the complete template
   254 document. Note that if a template:element attribute appears on the same
   255 element as the template:id attribute then the element-path should refer to the
   256 element specified in the template:element attribute.
   257 
   258 Choosing where to put template:attribute, template:id and id:
   259 
   260 When specifying the extent of a template fragment, one must be sure not to put
   261 the template:id attribute on the same element as a template:attribute
   262 annotation; otherwise, the generated code will be improperly extracted as a
   263 fragment producing two versions of the element - one for when the specified
   264 attribute is present, and one for when it is not present. Generally,
   265 template:id and id can be placed on the same node, however.
   266 
   267 Stable element ordering and element-path:
   268 
   269 Within the element-path, the numbering of the elements will start at 1.
   270 Therefore it is vital to choose a region of the form data structure with the
   271 element-path which is isolated from surrounding elements whose positions would
   272 otherwise be dependent on a stable ordering of elements, and whose processing
   273 would be disrupted if some new elements suddenly appeared claiming the same
   274 positions in the document. For example:
   275 
   276   <item value="">         .../item$1/value
   277     <type value=""/>      .../item$1/type$1/value
   278     <comment value=""/>   .../item$1/comment$2/value
   279   </item>
   280 
   281   In-page update...
   282 
   283   <comment value=""/>     .../item$1/comment$1/value
   284 
   285 Notes on XSL
   286 ------------
   287 
   288 libxslt seems to be quite liberal on the definition of runtime parameters, in
   289 that there is no apparent need to explicitly declare the corresponding global
   290 variables in stylesheets. Whilst this is nice, we may eventually need to
   291 detect such variables and add them in the preparation process.
   292 
   293 Release Procedures
   294 ------------------
   295 
   296 Update the XSLTools/__init__.py and XSLForms/__init__.py __version__
   297 attributes.
   298 Change the version number and package filename/directory in the documentation.
   299 Change code examples in the documentation if appropriate.
   300 Update the release notes (see above).
   301 Check the setup.py file and ensure that all package directories are mentioned.
   302 Check the release information in the PKG-INFO file and in the package
   303 changelog (and other files).
   304 Tag, export.
   305 Generate the example resources.
   306 Generate the API documentation.
   307 Remove generated .pyc files: rm `find . -name "*.pyc"`
   308 Archive, upload.
   309 Upload the introductory documentation.
   310 Update PyPI, PythonInfo Wiki, Vaults of Parnassus entries.
   311 
   312 Generating the Example Resources
   313 --------------------------------
   314 
   315 In order to prepare the example resources, the prepare_demo.py script must be
   316 run as follows:
   317 
   318 python tools/prepare_demo.py
   319 
   320 This will ensure that all initialiser and output stylesheets are created and
   321 are thus installed by packages.
   322 
   323 Generating the API Documentation
   324 --------------------------------
   325 
   326 In order to prepare the API documentation, it is necessary to generate some
   327 Web pages from the Python source code. For this, the epydoc application must
   328 be available on your system. Then, inside the distribution directory, run the
   329 apidocs.sh tool script as follows:
   330 
   331 ./tools/apidocs.sh
   332 
   333 Some warnings may be generated by the script, but the result should be a new
   334 apidocs directory within the distribution directory.
   335 
   336 Making Packages
   337 ---------------
   338 
   339 To make Debian-based packages:
   340 
   341   1. Create new package directories under packages if necessary.
   342   2. Make a symbolic link in the distribution's root directory to keep the
   343      Debian tools happy:
   344 
   345      ln -s packages/ubuntu-hoary/python2.4-xsltools/debian/
   346 
   347   3. Run the package builder:
   348 
   349      dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot
   350 
   351   4. Locate and tidy up the packages in the parent directory of the
   352      distribution's root directory.