Extensible Style Language
XSL-List -- Open Forum on XSL
The complete and searchable XSL-List archive is available
at http://www.biglist.com/lists/xsl-list/archives/
This is the Web page of xsl-list@lists.mulberrytech.com, the open
forum for the discussion of XSL -- Extensible Stylesheet Language.
XSL-List hosts discussion of XSL itself, XSL applications and
implementation, and XSL user questions. XSL-List is open to everyone,
users and developers, experts and novices alike. There is no
restriction to what may be posted on the XSL-List provided it is
related to XSL, which is considered to include XSLT (versions 1 and 2),
XPath (versions 1 and 2) and XSL Formatting Objects (FO).
XSL-List is not a W3C mailing list, and has no affiliation with W3C (or any official standing with any
standards organization). However, XSL-List was established with the
encouragement of members of the W3C XSL Working Group, and members of
the Working Group are among the subscribers to the list.
Only subscribers can post to XSL-List, but since the goal is to
increase the level of XSL knowledge, XSL-List is being archived
for everybody to view. The topics being discussed
on the XSL-List change as new ideas arise or existing problems are
dealt with, but the archive contains all of the ideas and solutions
that have been discussed on the list.
XSL-List is provided by Mulberry Technologies, Inc., as a service to
the XSL user community and the XSL standardization effort.
To subscribe to the list, fill out the form at http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list/subscribe-unsubscribe.html.
Daily digests -- copies of a whole days XSL-List messages sent as
one email message -- are available. Not only is it a single email
message containing all of that day's XSL-List messages, it is also half
the size, on average, of the individual messages since it doesn't
include the overhead of the mail headers from each message.
To unsubscribe from the list and subscribe to the
digest, use the form at
http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list/subscribe-unsubscribe.html.
Only subscribers can post to XSL-List, and only from the exact
address they used when they subscribed.
There is no restriction on what may be posted to the XSL-List provided it is related to XSL. Items concerning XML but without a direct connection to XSL should be posted to a XML-related list instead of to the XSL-List. Items related to DSSSL should be posted to the DSSSList.
Do not begin your subject line with "help" or
"subscribe" since the list software will bounce the message
because it looks like is an administrative request. Similarly, expect messages
with subject lines that contain these or similar words that are often used in
administrative requests
("remove", "unsubscribe", "delete") to be delayed. They will be sent to the list owner/moderator,
who will approve them for posting, a process that takes time.
It is best to start a new message for a new thread. Do not start a
new thread by replying to an unrelated message and just changing the
subject line, since the header of your message will contain references
to the previous message and your new message will appear in the
archive as one of the replies to the original message.
Good subject lines - those that describe the subject matter of your message -
not only increase the chances that you will receive answers to questions or
responses to comments, they also make your message and any replies to it
accessible in the list archives.
Both subscribers to the full list (xsl-list@lists.mulberrytech.com) and subscribers to the digest (xsl-list-digest@lists.mulberrytech.com)
should post their messages to xsl-list@lists.mulberrytech.com; the messages will be received by both subscribers to the list and subscribers to the digest.
Name the XSL processor, processor version, and
version of the language you are using. This information is
frequently necessary to diagnose a problem exactly, and always helps
respondents give good advice.
In addition, if you are using XSLT 1.0, please consider and state
up front whether viable options include upgrading to XSLT 2.0. Since
many problems that are difficult in XSLT 1.0 are significantly easier
using XSLT 2.0 features, you may save everyone time and trouble by telling
the group whether XSLT 2.0 solutions are, or are not, useful to you.
If you are replying to a post, trim the quoted message to just the
parts to which you are replying.
In addition to following simple rules of net etiquette and common sense, you will improve the chances that you will receive prompt and helpful responses by:
- Asking questions specific enough that answers are possible.
Describe what you are trying to do, how you approached it, what
happened, and why you don't like the result you got. Don't simply say
"it gave me an error": paste in the error message (someone else can
probably make sense of it).
- Illustrating your question with a demonstration of the problem.
Well-composed questions frequently include a small XML sample, an XSLT
stylesheet, the results received, and the result that was desired - all
in miniature, to make it comprehensible to readers new to your problem.
(It is also not uncommon to discover what a problem actually is in the
process of reducing it to an illustrative version.)
When posting to the XSL-List, do not use uninformative subject
lines like "Urgent", "Question", or "Newbie
HELP!!!", which don't say anything about what your problem is.
Instead, use a meaningful subject line that will make sense to the
people whose help you are trying to get. It may even get a response
from people who normally shy away from "beginner" questions.
Informative subject lines make the XSL-List archive
more useful since people with the same problem will more easily find
the relevant threads.
Cross-posting to the XSL-List and to another list, even XML-Dev or
the DSSSList, is generally counter-productive.
No list's archive will contain the complete thread; cross-posts from
non-subscribers continuing the thread will bounce; and XSL-List
subscribers who are not also on the other list will only see half the
thread, as will those on the other list who are not also reading XSL-
List. Subscribers to both lists may see two copies of the message,
annoying them as well.
The reply address of XSL-List messages (and of digests) is
xsl-list@lists.mulberrytech.com so REPLIES GO TO THE LIST BY DEFAULT. If you want to reply
to just the author of a post, you should change the "To:" field in
your reply.
Please do not quote entire messages just to add a few lines at the
beginning or end. Instead, quote the parts to which you are directly
replying or quote enough to establish the context.
Everybody on the list has already received the message that you are
quoting, and anyone searching the archive will find your message and
the previous message listed under the same thread.
Subscribers to the XSL-List will just ignore most of the quoted
messages and move to the next post, but subscribers to the XSL-List
Digest will mostly have to page past the quoted messages to reach the
next material in which they are interested in reading.
Postings to XSL-List must be in plain text only. The XSL-List does not allow
HTML postings because many users cannot display them appropriately, and because
they are unnecessarily large.
Postings to XSL-List may not be in Base 64 because it makes a mess of both the digest and the archive.
Since Mulberry's mailing lists have in the past been unwittingly
used for spreading viruses in e-mail attachments, all e-mail
attachments are banned from the XSL-List.
XSL stylesheets are XML files, and XML files are text files, so this
does not affect the majority of posts to the list since you can
include the files' text in the body of your message. If you need to
refer to a binary file such as a PDF file, you should put the file on
a Web site or FTP site and include the file's URL in your XSL-List
post.
If you do include an attachment in your XSL-List post -- even a HTML
attachment -- your message will bounce.
Because it is a public resource created by and for the entire XSL
community, we do not edit XSL-List. Therefore, it is responsibility of
list subscribers not to post anything to the list that they do not want
publicly available, possibly for a very long time.
Further, we at Mulberry could not, even if we wanted to, edit all of the
archives of XSL-List. Several third-parties have created unofficial archives of
XSL-List, often without asking, or even informing, Mulberry. Postings to XSL-List
will be included in an unknown and ever-changing variety of web publications. If
you don't want your questions/comments/answers in public view don't post them to
XSL-List.
Third parties are welcome to create searchable or reference archives of XSL-List
provided they adhere to the following guidelines:
- the material is clearly labelled as being from XSL-List, with an acknowledgement
of Mulberry's role as provider of XSL-List
- there is a navigable pointer to the official list page at
http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list/ either on every posting or associated
with the user interface such that it is visible with the postings
- list postings are unedited
- either the entire archive of the list is provided or there is a clearly stated
method for selecting the subset of the list that is provided
Mulberry does not provide these third parties with help to create these archives, does not
endorse particular third party archives, and has no control over the ways in which they present
the material in their systems.
People or organizations that publish the contents of XSL-List without following
the guidelines above are being very antisocial. Please bookmork either
the official XSL-List archive or one provided by a service that plays nicely
in the community and shun those who cannot give credit where credit it due.
To unsubscribe from XSL-List, use the form at
http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list/subscribe-unsubscribe.html.
To unsubscribe from the XSL-List digest, use the form at
http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list/subscribe-unsubscribe.html.
If you stop receiving XSL-List message, you may have been removed
because mail to you was bouncing. You are not being picked on, and
you can just rejoin the list.
XSL-List messages are archived at
http://www.biglist.com/lists/xsl-list/archives/.
Bugs in software should firstly be reported to its author rather than to the XSL List. Questions regarding how to work around bugs are welcome, but the list does not function as a bug-tracking system for any software.
Dave Pawson's XSL FAQ is at
http://www.dpawson.co.uk/.
The W3C information on XSL is at http://www.w3.org/Style/XSL/.
An excellent source of information about XSL is the XSL page of
Robin Cover's SGML/XML Web Page at
http://www.oasis-open.org/cover/xsl.html.
Mulberry's XSLT 1.0 and XPath 1.0 Quick Reference is at http://www.mulberrytech.com/quickref/.
Mulberry Technologies, Inc., also provides the DSSSList -- the DSSSL
Users' Mailing List. For subscription information and the DSSSList
archive, see
http://www.mulberrytech.com/dsssl/dssslist.
If you have any questions or problems about administration of the list, please contact xsl-list-owner@lists.mulberrytech.com.
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