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// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did XSL say to XML? "You style me.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In computing, the term Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) is used ambiguously to refer to the languages XSLT and XSL-FO which are used to transform and render XML documents (e.g., XSLT is used to determine how to display a XML document as a webpage[1]).

  1. XSL Transformation (XSLT): an XML language for transforming XML documents
  2. XSL Formatting Objects (XSL-FO): an XML language for specifying the visual formatting of an XML document. It's an intermediary format which can be used when transforming from XML with XSLT to a print format like PDF. Using XSL-FO usually implies using XSLT too.

History

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XSL began as an attempt to bring the functionality of DSSSL, particularly in the area of print and high-end typesetting, to XML.

In response to a submission from Arbortext, Inso, and Microsoft,[2] a W3C working group on XSL started operating in December 1997, with Sharon Adler and Steve Zilles as co-chairs, with James Clark acting as editor (and unofficially as chief designer), and Chris Lilley as the W3C staff contact. The group released a first public Working Draft on 18 August 1998. XSLT became W3C Recommendations on 16 November 1999[3]. XSL-FO reached Recommendation status in October 2001 but the specification was just called XSL despite only actually describing XSL-FO. However it claims XSL to consist of two parts and calls XSLT the other.[4][5]

Abstract

This specification defines the features and syntax for the Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL), a language for expressing stylesheets. It consists of two parts:

1. a language for transforming XML documents (XSLT), and

2. an XML vocabulary for specifying formatting semantics.

An XSL stylesheet specifies the presentation of a class of XML documents by describing how an instance of the class is transformed into an XML document that uses the formatting vocabulary.

XSL-FO 1.1 came out in December 2006 and again the specification was called just XSL 1.1.[6]

In January 2007 the XSLT 2.0 specifications released.[7][8]. The XSL-FO 2.0 Working Draft never became a finalized standard.

References

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  1. "XML and XSLT". W3schools. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
  2. "Microsoft, ArborText and Inso Submit XSL Proposal to W3C". Sep 11, 1997.
  3. "XSL Transformations (XSLT)". www.w3.org. 16 November 1999. Archived from the original on 2026-07-12. Retrieved 2026-08-03.
  4. "Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) Version 1.0". www.w3.org. 15 October 2001. Retrieved 2026-08-03.
  5. "XML and Semantic Web W3C Standards Timeline" (PDF). 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-12. Retrieved 2021-04-08.
  6. "Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) Version 1.1". www.w3.org. 5 December 2006. Retrieved 2026-08-03.
  7. "XML and Semantic Web W3C Standards Timeline" (PDF). 2012-02-04. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-04-24. Retrieved 2012-02-04.
  8. "XSL Transformations (XSLT) Version 2.0". www.w3.org. 23 January 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-01-26. Retrieved 2026-08-03.

See also

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