XSLT Viewer¶

Last Updated: December 2025 | Version: 1.1.0

The XSLT Viewer allows you to quickly transform XML documents using XSLT stylesheets. Simply select your files and view the results immediately.

Overview¶

The XSLT Viewer is designed for quick transformations where you want to see results immediately. For advanced features like live editing, parameters, and batch processing, use the XSLT Developer tab.

XSLT Viewer Overview The XSLT Viewer with file selection and result preview

What is XSLT?¶

XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations) is a language for transforming XML documents. Think of it like a recipe that tells the computer how to convert your XML data into a different format such as HTML, text, or another XML structure.

XSLT Concept XSLT transformation: XML input + XSLT rules = Output

Common uses:

Convert XML data to HTML for web display
Transform XML between different schemas
Generate reports from XML data
Extract and restructure data

How to Use¶

Step 1: Select Your Files¶

Choose an XML source file using the file explorer on the left
Choose an XSLT stylesheet using the file explorer below

The transformation runs automatically when both files are selected.

Step 2: View the Results¶

The results appear in the tabbed panel on the right:

Tab	Description
Text View	Shows the raw output with syntax highlighting
HTML Preview	Renders HTML output as a web page
Performance	Shows transformation statistics

Button	Description
Reload	Re-runs the transformation with current files
Browser	Opens the result in your default web browser
Editor	Opens the result in your default text editor
Help	Shows help information

XSLT Examples¶

FreeXmlToolkit includes example XSLT stylesheets in the examples/ folder. Here are some common XSLT patterns:

Example 1: Basic XML to HTML¶

Transform a simple XML list to an HTML table:

<!-- Input XML -->
<books>
    <book>
        <title>XML for Beginners</title>
        <author>Jane Smith</author>
        <price>29.99</price>
    </book>
    <book>
        <title>Advanced XSLT</title>
        <author>John Doe</author>
        <price>49.99</price>
    </book>
</books>

<!-- XSLT Stylesheet -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
                xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">

  <xsl:output method="html" indent="yes"/>

  <xsl:template match="/">
    <html>
      <head><title>Book List</title></head>
      <body>
        <h1>Available Books</h1>
        <table border="1">
          <tr>
            <th>Title</th>
            <th>Author</th>
            <th>Price</th>
          </tr>
          <xsl:for-each select="books/book">
            <tr>
              <td><xsl:value-of select="title"/></td>
              <td><xsl:value-of select="author"/></td>
              <td><xsl:value-of select="price"/></td>
            </tr>
          </xsl:for-each>
        </table>
      </body>
    </html>
  </xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

Output: An HTML page with a table listing all books.

Example 2: Filter and Sort Data¶

Filter items based on a condition and sort the results:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
                xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">

  <xsl:output method="xml" indent="yes"/>

  <xsl:template match="/">
    <expensive-books>
      <!-- Select books over $30, sorted by price descending -->
      <xsl:for-each select="books/book[price > 30]">
        <xsl:sort select="price" data-type="number" order="descending"/>
        <book>
          <xsl:copy-of select="title"/>
          <xsl:copy-of select="price"/>
        </book>
      </xsl:for-each>
    </expensive-books>
  </xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

Example 3: Using Templates for Modular Code¶

Use templates to organize complex transformations:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
                xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">

  <xsl:output method="html" indent="yes"/>

  <!-- Main template -->
  <xsl:template match="/">
    <html>
      <body>
        <xsl:apply-templates select="books/book"/>
      </body>
    </html>
  </xsl:template>

  <!-- Template for each book -->
  <xsl:template match="book">
    <div class="book">
      <h2><xsl:value-of select="title"/></h2>
      <p>By: <xsl:value-of select="author"/></p>
      <xsl:call-template name="format-price">
        <xsl:with-param name="amount" select="price"/>
      </xsl:call-template>
    </div>
  </xsl:template>

  <!-- Named template for price formatting -->
  <xsl:template name="format-price">
    <xsl:param name="amount"/>
    <p class="price">
      <xsl:text>Price: $</xsl:text>
      <xsl:value-of select="format-number($amount, '#,##0.00')"/>
    </p>
  </xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

Example 4: XML to JSON-like Structure¶

Convert XML to a JSON-friendly text format:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
                xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">

  <xsl:output method="text"/>

  <xsl:template match="/">
    <xsl:text>[</xsl:text>
    <xsl:for-each select="books/book">
      <xsl:if test="position() > 1">,</xsl:if>
      <xsl:text>{"title":"</xsl:text>
      <xsl:value-of select="title"/>
      <xsl:text>","author":"</xsl:text>
      <xsl:value-of select="author"/>
      <xsl:text>","price":</xsl:text>
      <xsl:value-of select="price"/>
      <xsl:text>}</xsl:text>
    </xsl:for-each>
    <xsl:text>]</xsl:text>
  </xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

Example 5: Conditional Formatting¶

Apply different styles based on data values:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
                xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">

  <xsl:output method="html" indent="yes"/>

  <xsl:template match="/">
    <html>
      <head>
        <style>
          .low-price { color: green; }
          .high-price { color: red; font-weight: bold; }
        </style>
      </head>
      <body>
        <xsl:for-each select="books/book">
          <p>
            <xsl:value-of select="title"/>:
            <span>
              <xsl:attribute name="class">
                <xsl:choose>
                  <xsl:when test="price &lt; 30">low-price</xsl:when>
                  <xsl:otherwise>high-price</xsl:otherwise>
                </xsl:choose>
              </xsl:attribute>
              $<xsl:value-of select="price"/>
            </span>
          </p>
        </xsl:for-each>
      </body>
    </html>
  </xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

Example 6: Grouping with Keys (XSLT 1.0 Muenchian Grouping)¶

Group items by a common value:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
                xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">

  <xsl:output method="html" indent="yes"/>

  <!-- Key for grouping books by author -->
  <xsl:key name="books-by-author" match="book" use="author"/>

  <xsl:template match="/">
    <html>
      <body>
        <h1>Books by Author</h1>
        <!-- Select first book of each author group -->
        <xsl:for-each select="books/book[count(. | key('books-by-author', author)[1]) = 1]">
          <xsl:sort select="author"/>
          <h2><xsl:value-of select="author"/></h2>
          <ul>
            <!-- List all books by this author -->
            <xsl:for-each select="key('books-by-author', author)">
              <li><xsl:value-of select="title"/></li>
            </xsl:for-each>
          </ul>
        </xsl:for-each>
      </body>
    </html>
  </xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

Included Example Files¶

FreeXmlToolkit includes professional example stylesheets in the examples/xsl/ folder:

Stylesheet	Description
`FundsXML_Factsheet.xsl`	Generate a fund factsheet report
`FundsXML_ExecutiveSummary.xsl`	Create an executive summary
`FundsXML_DataQualityReport.xsl`	Data quality validation report
`FundsXML_PortfolioAnalysis.xsl`	Portfolio analysis with charts
`FundsXML_RiskReport.xsl`	Risk analysis report

Use these with the example XML file examples/xml/FundsXML_422_Bond_Fund.xml.

Performance Statistics¶

After each transformation, you can view performance metrics in the Performance tab:

Execution time - How long the transformation took
Output size - Size of the generated output
Memory usage - Memory consumed during transformation

Tips¶

Validate first - Make sure your XML and XSLT files are valid before transformation
Check the error panel - If transformation fails, check the error messages
Use the HTML preview - For HTML output, the preview shows you exactly how it will look
Try the example files - Learn from the included examples in the examples/ folder
Need more features? - Use the XSLT Developer tab for advanced editing

Next Steps¶

XSLT Developer - Full XSLT/XQuery development environment
PDF Generator (FOP) - Generate PDFs from XSL-FO stylesheets

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