NiceXSL logo Contents Download Update-Site NiceXSL logo

NiceXML Syntax

The nicer language for XSLT constructs is layered upon a nicer language for XML constructs. The NiceXML syntax may be used to incorporate literal XML text within stylesheets or to express XSLT constructs for which NIceXSL support proves inadequate.

The XML

<e1 a1="a1">
  <e2 a2="a2">
    <e3 a3="a3"/>
  </e2>
</e1>

can be expressed as

<e1 a1="a1"
  <e2 a2="a2"
    <e3 a3="a3">
  >
>

NiceXML requires rather than prohibits lexical construct nesting and makes the repetitive end-of construct keywords optional. A NiceXML construct that starts with < therefore ends at the matching >. NiceXML allows XML tag names to be re-specified at the end of a construct, and this may be used for documentation or diagnosis of deep hierarchies.

The XML
  <a><b/></a>
must therefore be rewritten in NiceXML, to use hierarchical nesting as
  <a <b>>.

Use of additional construct closers as in
  <a <b/>/>
or
  <a <b /b>/a>
is optional.

Text nodes must be written in quotes, so the XML
  <a>some text</a>
must be written as
  <a "some text">
or
  <a 'some text'>

The attribute name in an attribute node may be prefixed by an @, so the XML
  <a key="word"/>
may be written as
  <a @key="word">.
The extra @ is necessary only when the subsequent attribute name corresponds to a NiceXSL construct keyword.
  <a @apply-templates="yes">

???Parentheses, rather than quotes should be used when the argument is an XPath expression: <a @key=(word)> .

The standard XML
   &amp; &gt; &lt; &quot; &# decimal; and   &#xhexadecimal;
policies for character references in strings are supported; A new line should therefore be entered as &#xA; (not as /n).

A group of child nodes may be enclosed in braces to assist structuring:
  <a { @b = "c" <d> } >

Standard multi-line XML comments can be provided using the standard   <!-- introducer and --> terminator.

Alternatively end-of-line comments can be placed at the end of a line following a --. End of line comments areremoved during translation to XSL.

Syntax Summary

The NiceXML form of XML syntax is summarised by way of examples in the following tables.

  • Typewriter font denotes exact text.
  • Italic font denotes a parametric value.
  • ... denotes an incomplete example.
  • + denotes one or more repetitions of the preceding construct.
  • * denotes zero or more repetitions of the preceding construct

    • Preferred NiceXSL syntax XML equivalent
    -- end-of-line-comment  
    <!-- multi-line-comment --> <!-- multi-line-comment -->
    <key attr* node*> <key attr*> node* </key>
    <key attr*> <key attr*/>
    <? key processing-instruction ?/> <? key processing-instruction ?/>
    attribute-name="attribute-value"
    @attribute-name="attribute-value"     		attribute-name="attribute-value"
    @attribute-name=(xpath-expression) attribute-name="xpath-expression"
    namespace:name="namespace-value"
    @namespace:name="namespace-value"     		namespace:name="namespace-value"
    "multi-line-text" multi-line-text