Style within an XML element

StupidScript · 03-29-2007, 04:37 PM

I'd like to use XML to store the content for a journaling program, but it's pretty drab. I don't have any problem generating the XML or using it with an XSL template. The issue I'm having is that I would like the user to be able to use simple formatting like bold and italics within a journal entry. For example (XML):

Code:

<journal>
 <note>
 <date>03/29/2007</date>
 <entry>Here is an entry in my journal</entry>
 </note>
</journal>

I can format the whole <entry> as usual, but how can I get XML to recognize that one of the words within the <entry> should be bold?

I have no problem doing string replacement stuff, however I've not been able to implement any that work. I can Javascript it, replacing < with <, for example. This invalidates the XML code (no < allowed), but even when it's in there, and I can see it in the code, the browser will not render is as bold ... it just ignores it.

Code:

<journal>
 <note>
 <date>03/29/2007</date>
 <entry>Here is an <b>entry</b> in my journal</entry>
 </note>
</journal>

ends up as

Code:

03/29/2007
Here is an entry in my journal

I'm having a similar problem with line breaks within an entry ... <br /> just shows up without breaking the line, and actual carriage returns within an entry are ignored.

How can I get HTML instructions to render within an XML element?

Thoughts? Thanks in advance ...

exam · 03-31-2007, 09:38 AM

Why don't you store the journal entries in a database and output as HTML? Or, if you don't want to use a database, store as XML, and output as HTML.

StupidScript · 04-02-2007, 09:43 AM

Using a database is not an option here, and my question is about storing data as XML and then outputting it as HTML. How do you make a <b> tag work within an XML element? It's easy to bold-format the whole element ... but what about one word within the element's data? I haven't found a way ...

StupidScript · 04-02-2007, 10:47 AM

Here are example files, hopefully to make the problem more clear:

journal.dtd

Code:

<!ELEMENT journal (entry+)>
<!ELEMENT entry (date,text)>
<!ELEMENT date (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT text (#PCDATA)>

journal.xml

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="journal.xsl"?>
<!DOCTYPE journal SYSTEM "journal.dtd">
<journal>
<entry>
<date>03/31/2007</date>
<text>entry with <b>bold</b> word</text>
</entry>
</journal>

journal.xsl

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<xsl:transform version="1.0"
	xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:template match="/">
<html>
<head><title>XSLT Test</title></head>
<body>
 <xsl:for-each select="journal/entry">
 <em><xsl:value-of select="date" /></em><br />
 <xsl:value-of select="text" />
 <hr />
 </xsl:for-each>
</body>
</html>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:transform>

As you can see from this test, wrapping the entire element (in the XSL file) with EM tags formats that entire element as italics. However the <b> tags within the TEXT element are not acted on by the browser ... it just ignores them.

I'm trying to discover if I can use XML files for storing this type of data with modest formatting, or if I should continue to use the HTML files I've been using.

Taltos · 04-03-2007, 03:40 PM

Wish I could help, James. I haven't messed with XML enough to know. I thought part of the purpose of XML was to separate content and formatting? Which means it wouldn't surprise me if you are out of luck on this one. Sounds like it will require a creative solution. You have already tried a few from your description but they all involve trying to put HTML formating into XML. I may be stating the obvious and just don't know enough to realize it.

It is sounding like you might have to output as HTML and using some kinds of flags that XML won't complain about, replace after it is in HTML with the HTML formatting tags. Sounds like a pain though. You got me curious now. Let me know how this adventure goes.

StupidScript · 04-03-2007, 04:22 PM

Here's what works for this:

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<xsl:transform version="1.0"
xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:template match="/">
<html>
<head><title>XSLT Test</title></head>
<body>
<xsl:for-each select="journal/entry">
<em><xsl:value-of select="date" disable-output-escaping="yes" /></em><br />
<xsl:apply-templates/>
<hr />
</xsl:for-each>
</body>
</html>
</xsl:template>

<xsl:template match="text">
<xsl:apply-templates/>
</xsl:template>

<xsl:template match="b">
<b><xsl:apply-templates/></b>
</xsl:template>

</xsl:transform>

Now I need to get it to work for other tags, like <br /> ... I think I may go back to HTML pages for storage, and then when I need the XML, I'll just output it and use it on the fly.