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DNN Blog
Aug
28
Posted by:
Stefan Cullmann
8/28/2008
Nearly one year ago (exactly only one day is left) we released UserDefinedTable 3.4.0. It was a major milestone, and Sebastian did a good job introducing all the exiting new features like the column settings or the new search feature. The presentation of one new single enhancement was assigned to me as the developer. Well, I never did. Now after even Core Team members detected the toy by accident, I can't wait to show up this little tool.
I already blogged about the affinity of token templates and XSL, and I tried to explain what is needed for successful XSL Rendering inside the User Defined Table module. The Token Based XSL Generator and Editor (often shortened to Token2XSL-Editor) bridges the gap between token templates and XSL.
The editor is only available after the rendering option "User Defined XSL Transformation" was selected. Directly below the URL control which allows selecting or uploading new stylesheets, a link invites the user to generate a new XSL stylesheet.
Nobody need to be scared that this step requires XSL skills. Instead the Token Based XSL Editor and Generator opens up:
The main textbox inside is already filled with a skeleton template. On the fly all major columns are already inserted as [Tokens]. Of course the textbox is editable; and the template can be adjusted to our requirements.
A click on "Generate from HTML Template" generates a complete XSL Stylesheet:
The script is nearly the same as the one presented yesterday, this one is optimized for further refinements though.
After the script is saved and you have switched back to the main module view, the output is already rendered using the new stylesheet:
Hooray, it worked!
If we still don't like the output, we can tweak the output even further:
The Token Based XSL Editor and Generator will pop up again and opens the XSL file and its source, the custom [token] template, which was included inside the XSL file.
The editor has some further possibilities. All Columns and further context information, for example the current application path, are available inside a combo box and can be inserted as tokens. Further options allow to enable search, XSL based paging and even a master detail view.
The output isn't limited to simple tables but your imagination.
1 comment(s) so far...
Re: User Defined Table's hidden tool revealed: Token Based XSL Generator and Editor
That is freaking amazing. My mind is spinning with the possibilities. Thanks for making XSL so easy to use.
By MMerrick on
9/25/2008
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