Including an XSLT file into an executable - c#

I'm trying to build an executable which applies XSLT transforms onto a large number XML files. Now my problem is that I'd like to include/refer to the XSLT file stored with my C# VS 2010 solution, so that when I repackage this for another machine, I don't have to copy across the XSLT files. Is this possible?
string xslFile = "C:\template.xslt";
string xmlFile = "C:\\file00324234.xml";
string htmlFile = "C:\\output.htm";
XslCompiledTransform transform = new XslCompiledTransform();
transform.Load(xslFile);
transform.Transform(xmlFile, htmlFile);

You can include the XSLT as an Embedded Resource into your assembly as described here:
How to embed an XSLT file in a .NET project to be included in the output .exe?
Once embedded, you can use the transform as follows:
using(Stream stream = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly()
.GetManifestResourceStream("YourAssemblyName.filename.xslt"))
{
using (XmlReader reader = XmlReader.Create(stream))
{
XslCompiledTransform transform = new XslCompiledTransform ();
transform.Load(reader);
// use the XslTransform object
}
}

Related

Convert xsl - fo to pdf

I have an XSL-FO file and data is available in xml/json formats. I wanted to create a pdf using this xsl structure.
Can anyone suggest any open source libraries for conversion? I want it to be done at the C# level.
Note: I tried converting to html but as it is xsl-fo file I can't get the alignment.
You can use Apache FOP (https://xmlgraphics.apache.org/fop/) tool. It can generate PDF document from XSL-FO input.
From the C# it is possible to start Apache FOP process pointing it to the XSL-FO file (or use stdin, so you don't have to use any temporary files). After process exists you get PDF file (in file on disk or stdout).
For start you can make Apache FOP read XSL-FO file and write PDF file to disk, for that use Process class (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.diagnostics.process?view=netframework-4.8):
Draft code snippet (may contains errors but it should be a good start for you):
Process.Start("C:\\path\\to\\fop input_xsl-fo.xml output.pdf").WaitForExit();
I tried using fo.net and it worked for me,
here is the sample code
string lBaseDir = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName("e:\thermalpdf.xsl");
XslCompiledTransform lXslt = new XslCompiledTransform();
lXslt.Load("e:\thermalpdf.xsl");
lXslt.Transform("e:\billingData1.xml", "books1.fo");
FileStream lFileInputStreamFo = new FileStream("books1.fo", FileMode.Open);
FileStream lFileOutputStreamPDF = new FileStream("e:\response2.pdf", FileMode.Create);
FonetDriver lDriver = FonetDriver.Make();
lDriver.BaseDirectory = new DirectoryInfo(lBaseDir);
lDriver.CloseOnExit = true;
lDriver.Render(lFileInputStreamFo, lFileOutputStreamPDF);
lFileInputStreamFo.Close();
lFileOutputStreamPDF.Close();

why doesn't my treeview pick up my xsl changes?

I am using the treeview control included in asp.net 2.0.
I want to use an xsl file that I created (test3.xslt).
Why isn't the Treeview picking up the changes to the tree made with the xsl (in tw, I think) and displaying them?
tw has the changes made by the xslt transform...
The DataSourceID for my treeview is my xmldatasource (xmldatasource1).
Thanks,
blue
argsList.AddParam("Groups_From_Logged_In_User","",myLocalGroups);
XslCompiledTransform xslTransform = new XslCompiledTransform();
xslTransform.Load("C:\\ANewBeginning3\\test3.xslt");
StringWriter tw = new StringWriter();
using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter("C:\\ANewBeginning3\\output.xml"))
{
xslTransform.Transform(xmldoc.CreateNavigator(), argsList, tw);
XmlDataSource1.Data = tw.ToString();
}
XmlDataSource1.DataBind();
}
I figured it out...
First, xmldatasource blocks any other xml if xmldatasource.DataFile is specified. I was using xmldatasource.data above AND specified the DataFile as well. (see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.web.ui.webcontrols.xmldatasource.data.aspx )
Second, do not specify the xslt file in xmldatasource either. I was trying to both transform it (using xslTransform) AND specify the same stylesheet in xmlDatasource.TransFormFile (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.web.ui.webcontrols.xmldatasource.transformfile.aspx). Don't do both (unless you know why you're doing it.)

Loading resources from another project?

I'm trying to load an XML file from a separate project; One of these projects is a game engine, which calls the XML document reader and takes in a path specifying the relative directory to the file.
From Engine
XDocument doc;
try
{
Stream stream = this.GetType().Assembly.GetManifestResourceStream(path);
doc = XDocument.Load(stream);
}
catch
{
doc = XDocument.Load(path);
}
From the other project
string filePath = "Test.xml";
Npc npc = new Npc("somename", 2,filePath);
Test.xml resides in the other project's root directory. The Npc constructor makes a call to a Statistics object constructor, which then calls the method which loads the XDocument. As this is happening, the filePath is simply passed downward through the layers.
I've looked at this, and tried the embedded resource example, which is ultimately what I'm trying to accomplish, and it didn't work for me.
What am I doing wrong, here?
Update
I changed Text.xml to Chronos.Text.xml, as that is where the file resides. In my debugger, I see that the stream simply returns null when I use that as a path:
try
{
Stream stream = this.GetType().Assembly.GetManifestResourceStream("Chronos.Test.xml"); //returns null
doc = XDocument.Load(stream); //Exception thrown
}
catch
{
doc = XDocument.Load(path); //File not found
}
Embeded resources are embeded directly in the executable. Assembly.GetManifestResourceStream() is trying to open a stream on the embeded resource, what you should be providing is the resource name in the following format AssemblyDefaultNamespace.Directory.Filename.
If you are trying to open an XML file from another directory, you will have to provide the full path to XDocument.Load(), or a path relative from your current project output directory pointing to that other directory.
Another solution would be to copy the data from the other project into your project and specify that you want the file to be copied to your output directory.

XSLT version 2.0 transformation problem with C#

Hi I've got several XSLT 2.0 files. I need to transform these with C#..
I use the following code I got from this site: http://www.csharpfriends.com/Articles/getArticle.aspx?articleID=63
public bool Transform(string XMLPath, string XSLPath, string newXMLname){
try{
XPathDocument myXMLPath = new XPathDocument(XMLPath); //load the Xml doc
XslCompiledTransform myXSLTrans = new XslCompiledTransform();
myXSLTrans.Load(XSLPath); //load the Xsl
XmlTextWriter myWriter = new XmlTextWriter(newXMLname, null); //create the output stream
myXSLTrans.Transform(myXMLPath, null, myWriter); //do the actual transform of Xml ---> fout!!??
myWriter.Close() ;
return true;
}catch(Exception e){
return false;
}
}
But it doesn't work.. I think it's because I use XSLT version 2.0.
Is there a code/way to do this? Because there is no way to change my XSLT files to version 1.0...
Thanks in advance!
The two XSLT 2.0 processors that are designed to work in the .NET environment are Saxon.NET and XQSharp.
The XslCompiledTransform and XslTransform processors that come as part of .NET only implement XSLT 1.0.
Natively .Net Framework doesn't support XSLT 2.0. I would suggest to use XSLT 1.0, but if you can't, then use third party component, for example Saxon.

What's the most streamlined way of performing a XSLT transformation in ASP.NET?

In other words, is there a faster, more concise way of writing the following code:
//Create an object for performing XSTL transformations
XslCompiledTransform xslt = new XslCompiledTransform();
xslt.Load(HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath("/xslt/" + xsltfile.Value), new XsltSettings(true, false), new XmlUrlResolver());
//Create a XmlReader object to read the XML we want to format
//XmlReader needs an input stream (StringReader)
StringReader sr = new StringReader(node.OuterXml);
XmlReader xr = XmlReader.Create(sr);
//Create a StringWriter object to capture the output from the XslCompiledTransform object
StringWriter sw = new StringWriter();
//Perform the transformation
xslt.Transform(xr, null, sw);
//Retrieve the transformed XML from the StringWriter object
string transformedXml = sw.ToString();
UPDATE (thanks for all the answers so far!):
Sorry for my vagueness: by "faster" and more "concise" I mean, am I including any unnecessary steps? Also, I would love a more "readable" solution if someone has one. I use this code in a small part of a web application I'm developing, and I'm about to move it to a large part of the application, so I want to make sure it's as neat as can be before I make the move.
Also, I get the XML from a static class (in a separate data access class library) which communicates with a database. I also manipulate the transformed XML string before shipping it off to a web page. I'm not sure if the input/response streams are still viable in this case.
One more thing: the XML and the XSLT supplied may change (users of the application can make changes to both), so I think I would be forced to compile each time.
Here's code I did for my ASP.NET, which is very similar to yours:
XDocument xDoc = XDocument.Load("output.xml");
XDocument transformedDoc = new XDocument();
using (XmlWriter writer = transformedDoc.CreateWriter())
{
XslCompiledTransform transform = new XslCompiledTransform();
transform.Load(XmlReader.Create(new StreamReader("books.xslt")));
transform.Transform(xDoc.CreateReader(), writer);
}
// now just output transformedDoc
If you have a large XSLT you can save the overhead of compiling it at runtime by compiling the XSLT into a .NET assembly when you build your project (e.g. as a post-build step). The compiler to do this is called xsltc.exe and is part of Visual Studio 2008.
In order to load such a pre-compiled XSLT you will need .NET Framework 2.0 SP1 or later installed on your server (the feature was introduced with SP1).
For an example check Anton Lapounov's blog article:
XSLTC — Compile XSLT to .NET Assembly
If pre-compiling the XSLT is not an option you should consider caching the XslCompiledTransform after it is loaded so that you don't have to compile it everytime you want to execute the transform.
Don't have time to do a full example, but some notes:
XML is not the same as System.String. Get it from the class library as XDocument or XmlDocument; finish with it as XDocument or XmlDocument.
You can use the ASP.NET Cache to store the compiled XSL, with a cache dependency on when the .XSLT file changes.
Don't convert the XML to a string then back to XML. Use node.CreateNavigator().ReadSubTree().
Similarly, use XPathNavigator.AppendChild to get an XmlWriter that will write into an XML Document.
Since you mention ASP.NET, the question is whether you can use the response stream directly for your transform output and whether you can use the input stream directly if it is a POST...
I'd rewrite the code like this:
string path = HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath("/xslt/" + xsltfile.Value);
XmlReader reader = CreateXmlReader(node.OuterXml);
string transformedXml = Transform(path, reader);
private XmlReader CreateXmlReader(string text)
{
StringReader reader = new StringReader(text);
return XmlReader.Create(reader);
}
private string Transform(string xsltPath, XmlReader source)
{
XsltCompiledTransform transformer = new XsltCompiledTransform();
transformer.Load(
xsltPath,
new XsltSettings(true, false),
new XmlUrlResolver());
StringWriter writer = new StringWriter();
transformer.Transform(source, null, writer);
return writer.ToString();
}
The reason why I'd rewrite the code like this is because each block of code now has one and only one purpose. This makes it easier to read and understand. Additionally, the code requires less comments because a lot of information can be inferred from the names of the function and its parameters.

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