XSL Books

This book is a great guide for all FileMaker Pro developers interested in working with XML. Beverly Voth clearly has a strong grasp of both FileMaker Pro and Markup Languages. I found this book well organized, easy to follow and filled with useful information.

I've read many books regarding FileMaker Pro. In the few that mention XML, it is an afterthought. Beverly Voth's book is in depth, detailed and formatted in a manner that makes it readable, understandable and usable to both novice and professional developers.

The page layouts and presentation of the code and formatting is first rate. I was able to put what I learned into practice on day one of reading the book. This is a must have for all FileMaker Pro Programmers. I've recommended it to all my programmers. I recommend it to all who plan to ride the wave of the future with FileMaker Pro's XML features.

Ray Clements

Beverly Voth has written the "bible" on FileMaker Pro/XML integration. She takes what can be a daunting subject, and leads you logically from topic to topic, with demo files and plenty of code examples to illustrate her points. From the eight-page table of contents (in outline form) to the detailed index, this book is exceptionally well laid out, and has plenty to offer both the novice and the veteran FileMaker developer. This book does not suffer from the "we didn't have time, budget or inclination to proofread adequately" syndrome that plagues so many computer books these days... it flows beautifully, and I have yet to find a single typo.

Finally a handy book that clearly explains XML and XSLT from a FileMaker perspective.

It is obvious when reading through this material, that Beverly Voth writes from experience. Her book is well researched, has a firm grasp of the FileMaker XML grammars and provides lots and lots of examples that make it easy for a developer to adopt this technology.

This book is full of useful tips, hints and clear explanations. There are many simple step by step exercises, XML and XSLT examples along with many do's and dont's that take the pain out of the development cycle.

The guide is complete with a useful list of resources, links and references and a glossary of acronyms and terms.

I use FileMaker applications everyday, I write stylesheets and now I always keep this book next to my computer as a quick reference and useful guide.

The release of Beverly Voth's Guide is well worth our wait. While exhaustive, the writing is clear and not exhausting. She has given us the definitive textbook on this thorny, difficult subject, starting at the outside and working in. While breaking apart the various layers into edible morsels, Ms. Voth does not sugar-coat the complexities of her subject; she simply makes them disappear.

If you have DocBook markup that you need to turn into html or pdf YOU CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT THIS BOOK! That's right I'm shouting. This book is really that important, and that well written. Do bear in mind that you need to know a thing or two about XSLT and XSL-FO or you won't understand a thing you are reading.

The DocBook stylesheets have been carefully written to be both customizable and extensible; after all, no two organizations are likely to have the same format requirements for their documents. This book describes how you can develop your own customization layer between the DocBook stylesheets and your formatted document. Most developers, even those with a lot of time on their hands, would be unlikely to discover all of the techniques described in this book for accomplishing that task.

This book is especially useful if you need to produce pdf documents using XSL-FO. The html output is nice but you can easily format it with CSS. XSL-FO is a large and complex specification for marking up text and images to produce pdf documents. XSL-FO is so detailed that it takes a ton of markup to create even a modest document. The DocBook stylesheets generate a ton and a half of XSL-FO markup and the beauty of the techniques described in this book is that you only modify those things that represent the special needs of your document. I totally agree with previous reviewers, this book is essential.

This book is, without a doubt, one of the most helpful resources available to anyone seeking to understand DocBook XSL. Bob Stayton has done an incredible job gathering everything you need to know regarding this topic, and he presents it in a style that is both easy to navigate and easy to understand.

DocBook XSL: The Complete Guide takes the reader from the very beginnings of how to create custom output (whether print or HTML) using DocBook XSL. It includes information on the tools you need and how to set them up, giving you all the information you need to get started. But this book doesn't stop there--it continues with detailed, organized information on the myriad of ways you can create custom stylesheets that will generate your project precisely the way you want it. Everything is covered--from titlepages to bibliographies, this book leaves no topic unexplained.

It is extremely rare to find a book that truly is a complete guide to its subject matter. DocBook XSL: The Complete Guide more than lives up to its name--you will not find a better resource for understanding DocBook XSL.

This book needs to be beside the computer (and I do mean RIGHT beside) anyone who is attempting to support or modify docbook applications for the first time. Do that, and you may just be able to put away the extra strength excedrin. Without it, you might have a few problems......

Here's why:

Last year, I had the pleasure of implementing docbook for a large company down in Oklahoma. However, I didn't know much about XSL at the time or for that matter docbook; other than how to markup documents and make changes to the DTD. In other words I was a rookie. I had two tools at my disposal; the definative guide and docbook documentation. Any developer would understand what a rookie who is trying to muddle through docbook documentation is trying to go through..... I had a bit of consulting from Arbortext but other than that I was on my own. The definitive guide has very little information on publishing XML information and barely even mentions XSL. Thus, my modifications consisted of looking at existing code and attempting a patch job. Even with the training I'd had on XSLT it did not help me to find files that I didn't know existed. This book solves that problem and gets you off the ground running.

While the book is NOT a tututorial on XSL is does give a brief overview on the subject. This book talks about implementing XSL in a docbook environment as there are plenty of books in the market that teach you how to code XSL. An understanding of XML is expected and knowledge of docbook is certainly helpful. Topics covered include how to find docbooks XSL stylesheets (or obtain them for free, if you don't already have them)and tells you how to set them up, customize them for your environment, use special stylesheet output features and work with docbook options.

In short, if you need to learn how to implement XSL in a docbook environment; get this book in your hands and don't let it go. It's too valuable a commodity!

I purchased that book as soon as it came out: I just knew I'd need it some day. That day came three weeks ago and I got into the book with a vengeance. I needed to utterly customize the docbooks stylesheets and produce 12'000 different pdf's in four languages out of a huge documentation DB. With the book next to me it was a breeze. Extremely well written, knowledgeable, accurate, just verbose enough to get the point across and and and.

Beware: this is a book for people who are already very well versed in docbook in general, and in XSL in particular.

One does wish the author would have offered ant versions of his scripts as well as Make versions. But that's a matter of taste.

With this book and "DocBook: The Definitive Guide" in-hand, I
really can't imagine any other DocBook guide you'll ever need.

The book thoroughly covers just about every possible aspect of
DocBook publishing (that is, generating HTML, PDF, HTML Help, man
pages, etc. from your DocBook XML source) -- from general tool
setup down to the level of stuff like fine-tuning content of
headers and footers, title pages, cross-references, indexes, etc.

I have reviewed and used it a lot, and tried hard to come up with
suggestions for Bob for topics that should be added to it. But I
rarely manage to find anything that it doesn't already cover. When
I have a DocBook publishing question, I can almost always find the
answer in this book.

And if you're not familiar with the author, here are some details:
in the DocBook world, Bob is basically "The DocBook Answer Man" --
he is the most active contributor to discussions on the
docbook-apps mailing list (where DocBook publishing and tools
discussion takes place) -- patiently answering "How do I..."
questions posted by new users and following up on DocBook XSLT
stylesheet bug reports.

He's also a member of the DocBook Technical Committee, responsible
for overseeing refinements to the DocBook vocabulary, and he's a
major contributor to development of the actual DocBook XSL
stylesheets themselves.

Which is all a roundabout way of saying that this guy knows his
stuff, and in buying and using this book, you'll be benefitting
from a wealth of knowledge and experience with DocBook that you'll
not find anywhere else.

I don't know how many times I have come across a problem or a question that a colleague or I have, but are not able to recall which book the material was covered in. That problem is solved with this collection of books bound on CD. Every single one of the books on this CD are written so well and are so easy to access that if you are looking for anything regarding XML this book is a must have.

My only gripes about the series are that only one of the books encompasses the general ideas of XML. Each book, other than nutshell, has its own detail-oriented way of discussing the topic at hand. You must really read each one (read skim) to really get exactly what you are looking for. Maybe I was looking for more reference type material, but the collection is still awesome.

My goodness, this one is a whammy!! Aside from a hard copy 2nd edition of XML in a Nutshell, the CD contains the complete editions of the same book XML in a Nutshell (2nd Edition), XSLT, XML Schema, SAX2, Java & XML (2nd Edition), Java and XSLT, and Perl & XML. Each one of these books is deserving of its own review, but suffice it to say that having them all on CD just makes it more convenient to carry around. (I already have reviews on XML in a Nutshell and Java and XML.)

Developing a hernia by carrying the hard copy editions of these around is not my idea of a good time, so having the CD takes the cake. Of course, you'll need a laptop to actually be able to make use of the CD, and that'll leech battery power if you don't have a socket handy, so it's a toss-up either way. Still, the CD edition is searchable, so that you don't have to wiggle through the index of 7 books just to find that reference you needed.

All in all, a great deal!

I might have been among the first hundreds people to own this book and I still have to use it; I even use it often now as XML-based applications are growing day by day. The book is an outstanding one when it comes to concision, to the fundamentals of XML/XSLT. The methOdology adopted is that of teaching by examples, going from simple examples progresssively through more complex examples that re-use the same simple examples but introduce new concepts that are to be explained within the new chapter. There is no comparable material in the litterature for the beginner and the intermediate learner of XSLT.

The physical weak point of the book is its bounding! The paste used to bind the book is wrong: a few pages were tore off from my book since the first week I started working with it; fortunately, I immediately get the book re-bounded by a professional. Otherwise, I might loose a few pages of a so excellent learning material: it used to be in my bookshelf for the last two years, but, since this year it is always on the top of my desk so that I thought I should write this review, my first at "Amazon.com".

I bought this book and I finished it in one day. I couldn't put it DOWN. It was an excellent read. He almost had the reflection of my soul. Being a fellow poet (woman) its nice to see the reality of a man. I recommend this piece of literature to ALL. Nice write Poet Thomas Long!
I'll be looking for the next one :)

In the first offering by Thomas Long,the author gives a good look and feel for urban life and culture, positive and negative, but spoils it with his sexual references, which do little to improve the work, but brings it down to simply becoming base. The author shows great promise and talent, but to reach a wider, or general audience, if that is his desire, his praises of, and memorials of such controversial figures and race-based cults such as the Nation of Islam, Five Percenters, Elijah Muhammad, Khalid, and "Allah", will leave the author in the backwater of writers. Again, I would advise him to avoid the sexual references, but turn his eyes on to the many things of beauty and inspiration in the culture that greatly outweigh the negative.

This was an excellent read. I bought and read it in one day. I read alot of poetry. I am a poet myself. But it was very nice to read the "realitiy of man" for a change. I recommend this book to ALL.

This book is a wonderful poetry collection. The writer taps into different aspects of life. His poetry topics vary, so there is a poem for everyone. His poems are uplifting, but still based in reality. He taps into love, social issues, hope, and death. He is a wonderful writer, and I recommend this book for anyone who is looking for hope and inspiration.

I have just started working with XSLT and XSL-FO. This is an excellent book that explains all of this stuff in a language that you can understand. I would definitely recommend this book if you are new at this stuff.

It also has an excellent appendixes with the listing of all of the objects and properties.

Before I jump into an overview of the book, I wanted to make a quick observation first. I personally can't understand why XSL-FO hasn't caught on as fast as XSLT, XML and its ultra popular variant HTML. XSL-FO is the third spec of the original big three specs provided by the W3C and it was supposed to provide a markup language suited specifically to printing documents. XSL-FO is to the printed page what HTML is to the browser.

This is one of three books currently available on the XSL-FO topic, and I am shocked at the lack of availability of good books on the topic. This is the first book I read on XSL-FO and I have to say it does a good job of introducing the language and it's concepts. It is a semi good reference book. However, the code samples I think are just horrible. There is not a single examples where you have simple straight XSL-FO. All code examples are FO interlined with XSLT, making the syntax confusing and almost unreadable. You have to sift through 2 pages of XSLT before you get to one XSL-FO element. I think part of the slow acceptance of the language has to do with the fact that all books on the topic present code that mixes FO and XSLT. You can write straight workable XSL-FO that is much easier to debug and understand, than the code presented in this book.

Also the renderer software that was recommended in the book are the oldest guys on the market, but definitely not the best. Antenna House is the big dog and they have an excellent renderer (they are very expensive though). Some of the other renderers mentioned in the book are just terrible. If you want a list of good renderes search online. On the Windows platform, in my opinion, the best two renders for high volume operations on the market are Antenna House and the Ibex PDF Creator (from xmlpdf.com)

A good book that gives XSL-FO only code samples is the Ken Holman "Definitive XSL-FO" book. That book is a more advanced book however, and is only good if you already understand the language. It is also a semi-good reference book. To a novice, that book will be a bit over the top and probably very confusing. The other good book on the market is the O'Reilly book. Of the three, it is the best reference book by far.

So to recap, if you are venturing into XSL-FO, buy Doug Lovell's book in the beginning. Then buy the Dave Pawson book for reference. And finally when you get some mileage under your belt, get the Ken Holman book for the more advanced concepts and topics.

I rated the book 4 stars because it provides solid examples in many areas of XSL FO that actually work. Even though the W3C recommendation has been out since October, 2001, we have just started to see accessible books on XSL FO, and this is the best. The author provides a hands-on view and gives you examples that work and get you up and going quickly. Not a lot of wading through esoterica wondering how you would even get started with a simple document.

However, that is not to say that the book is without problems. Let me list them in order:

1. Software that will format XSL FO is in its infancy. Therefore, although the examples work, you have to burn some shoe leather finding software that is compliant with the spec. It would have been better if the author had bundled an evaluation copy of either the Antenna House software which he claimed would format *almost* all of the examples or his own XFC software that he developed for IBM alphaworks. I did download the XFC software, but although written in Java, it is very much oriented towards a windows platform, and I could not concoct a way to get it to run on my linux machine (I gave up after discovering I had a non-compliant version of the xerces package). I think one of the reasons Michael Kay's Wrox XSLT book has been so popular has been because of his work on Saxon. Software would have made this book a 5 star book.

2. Downloadable examples. These were not available at first, but the author had them up within a week of my email, correcting an error on the publisher's web page. So, this went from a problem to a plus.

3. Pagination (Chapter 8) is not very clear. Some of the figure references seem to have been reversed (generally, in many places where the author refers to figure 8.1 you should read 8.2 and vice versa). This chapter needed a concrete example to start. Then the author could have gotten into the more esoteric issue of overlapping regions.

I'm not a fan of Charles River Media's books. They don't have color illustrations, aren't well proofread and just generally seem cheaply put together.

Despite all that, Illustrating with Macromedia Flash Professional 8 is a must-have book for anyone using Flash. Firebaugh's use of Flash as an illustration tool is mind blowing, using simple vector tools to create photo-realistic images.

The problems of being published by CRM are evident though. The black & white pictures make it hard to judge what's going on and there are a few confusing typos and mis-wordings. (he often says "delete" when he really means "cut") You end up stuck having to have the FLA files right in front of you while you read. It's a good way to learn, but rather inconvenient.

I don't want to come off as down on this book just because I don't like the publisher. There's tons of great learning in this book. The source files are set up so you can poke through each step and see how things are put together. Also there are exercises at the end of each chapter to practice what you've learned.

All in all, Illustrating with Macromedia Flash Professional 8 puts you on the path the to do things with Flash you never thought were possible.

Micromedia Flash, now part of the Adobe family, has long been thought of as an annimation tool for web sites. This book stresses that Flash is also capable of producing high-quality photorealistic illustrations. To get the most out of the book you should have some experience with Flash. As such, I consider it an intermediate level book.

This is the second edition of this book, with the new edition focusing on more advanced illustrating projects, covering the new features built into Flash Professional 8, and covering points discovered since the first edition appeared.

The format of the book is basically a tutorial. It starts with simple line art, like you might use to illustrate assembly instructions for a bookcase. From there it goes on to more complex items eventually getting up to what the author calls 'photorealistic.' The images are close to photo quality. As some of these illustrations are quite complex, they are included on a CD supplied with the book.

Using Flash as the way to generate illustrations increases the utility of the program, their data storage formats are smaller than those of many other programs, and of course animation is available.

I am one of those who wish to pick up a book and be able to work with the technology in matter of hours, and this book is not the right one for it.

This is the best book I have ever read on XML related technologies. If you own just ONE book that wonderfully teaches this in's and out's of XSL as it relates to XML infrastructures, this is the book you absolutely MUST buy!

This books presents XSL in nice bite-sized chapters that are clear, to-the-point, and illustrated with good examples.

I am an experienced and (I think) pretty good procedural programmer, and I find XSL to be a challenge. I've looked at tutorials on the web and at other XSL books. I recommend this book because it reads well, covers the territory, and leaves you with a clear understanding of what XSL can do for you.

I am working on my IBM XML exam and had to study "Professional XML" and other books.

I found out there are two types of computer books
1) one type can tell you the same things in few pages(200-300 pages) and (of course in cheap price) without wasting your time and money.
2)second type will tell you the same things in 800-900 pages with price upto 60$ and size that will make you afraid even to pick up the book.(mostly "Professional series")

this book is from the first category. the author has done an excellent job to simply the understanding of how XSL,XSLT and XSL:FO works. what are different ways to do the same thing, whats the adv/dis to do them.

I got a chance to borrow it from my public library.
you may not find solid examples(only fragments) but believe me you wont miss the concept what the author is trying to teach at that point(he will use picture, fragment or whatever).

so here is the summary, if you want to save your time and money, pick this book.

A reasonable work on XSL, but certainly not the best. This book is neither fully a reference or an introduction. On the positive side the book provides a terse and intelligent introduction to the topic. On the negative side the explanation of a complex topic like XPath not covered in as much depth as it probably should be, and there are some extraneous sections on HTML and CSS which are better covered in other works. On the whole a good book, but not a great book. If you are interested in XSL you should try Michael Kay's XSLT Programmers Reference and Sal Mangano's XSLT Cookbook.

I enjoyed reading this book a lot compared to the other Flash books I've read. If you are trying to make Flash games and don't know where to start this might be the book you should buy! :)

I bought this book hoping to take steps from mid-level ActionScripter to a more advanced coder. In a world of how-to books that just regurgitate the same ol' techniques this one not only met, but it exceeded my expectations. I was hoping to improve my techniques for interactivity and thought a book on ActionScript gaming would be the quickest, most thorough and most fun way to do it and this book came through big time. Great examples, and good explanations of every step taken. Sometimes I needed more of an explanation but I think that's a trade-off of having more examples. So not really a complaint since I can find explanations online, but good examples are far more scarce. An absolute must-have...as someone said even if you are not into gaming. I'll also add that its still a must-have despite ActionScript 3 being out...but hopefully they put out a new edition covering that.

To respond to the negative reviews: 1. Want to see classes and OOP...that would be an issue if this book claimed to be an AS3 book, but considering it is AS2, when OOP and classes weren't as en vogue, I don't think that is a valid complaint. 99% of Flash CS2 books hardly mentioned classes and didnt code that way. 2. Bad habits/naming conventions...I didn't think so but I think that is a preference and if you don't like his "style" no one is forcing you to continue coding that way after you finish the book. Every author has their own style, and I didn't think his coding broke any conventions. 3. Nothing you can't learn yourself...just not true. I've found a lot of great stuff online, but it was a big help and hugely time-saving to have this wealth of info in one place AND with great instruction...and a bonus general ActionScript chapter that is better than many Flash books out there!

The book provides several examples that progress the reader through the programming of gradually more complex games. The reader should have a basic knowledge of Flash and Actionscript, as the book brushes over beginner-level concepts. At the time, the book is fairly up to date, however there is supposedly quite a jump between Flash 8 and Flash CS3, which uses Actionscript 3.0. Nonetheless, the concepts taught in the book are universally applicable regardless of what Flash version you are using. The inclusion of a CD-ROM is an added bonus and a must with this kind of book.

I found the book easy to read and very practical. The use of examples to explain things is great. And of course, examples that do work is great also!!!

It's the right book for those that already know something about flash and actionscript (doesn't need to be an expert), and want to learn to develop some games in flash, and perhaps aplly those technics on other apllications.

The book is great fun!!!

As a physicist, I looked at the chapter on "Physics for Games". It's very introductory Newtonian mechanics. Applying these in time-discrete form for moving objects in the game. Gravity is considered for vertical motion, and wind is incorporated to affect horizontal motion. Freshman level stuff. If you are developing a game where you need to seriously incorporate physics, there are entire books devoted to it, like Physics for Game Developers.

Though to be fair, the book is about learning Flash and its effects. Other chapters offer code fragments. Of necessity, these are all elementary, from a programming complexity standpoint. But they help explain how to apply Flash.

The most intricate part of the book seems to be when you model a 3d world. Nice rendering examples. Doesn't go very deeply here. Flash almost certainly has more advanced functionality.

This is really a good book for Java Developers who wish to develop XML based applications. Couple of chapters have good examples and explains concepts in a very clear format. Also the book is upto date with all the latest concepts in XML world.

This is surely one of the Best Books availale in Market for Java Developers. I have been waiting to read a Book which covers all the latest XML API and how use them using latest Java Tools. Thanks to Wrox Publications for bringing this book to us. It covers how to do XML programming using all the latest Java API line I/O Sockets, Developing Presentation Logic, Developing Configuration and Deployment logic, Using XML in B2B applications. In short no other book in Market provides such a clear understanding of how to develop Java Based XML Applications.

Also it clearly explains how to use the latest Java Based XML Parsers like Xerces, Xalan and more. Friends if you need to get upto date with all the latest Java Based Parsers and different XML API, then this Book is really the Best one.

I have been working with XML for a while now, and this book offered a great coverage of most aspects of what XML application developers need to know. I am not able to keep up with everything happening in this very broad part of the industry - and this book provided enough coverage of the areas I'm not able to focus on on a regular basis to help me stay current. I'd recommend it for anyone who's working with specific areas within XML and want to stay current with the broader scope of what is going on. I'd also recommend it for anyone who is new to XML and wants to know the various Java APIs out there.

As happens with so many technical publishers, WROX is now seemingly cashing in on the reputation they established a few years back by writing excellent, well laid-out technical books that appealed to true programmers.
Now, WROX hastily assembles a team of developers, has each one write a chapter in isolation, then releases all of their chapters back to back with little to zero editing, leading to a redundant, incoherent treatment of the subject, with page after page covering the same introductory material with subtle but insignificant differences. An oh, of course, there is the 250 page XML intro filler in the front, and the 300 page XML reference guide filler in the back, brining the actuall useful content page count down even further.
No thought is placed on the overall coherence of the book or it's educational goals.
It's clear that as WROX has grown, they have not been able to maintain the same level of quality they once had. Their editors are clearly not involved in the process, and arent creating anything that amounts to higher learning.

There is NOTHING in this book on the more complex aspects of the subject matter, just a rehashing of what youll find in tutorials and in other generic XML books. My biggest complaint is the completely surface treatment of SOAP. No real mention is made of custom serialization, no examples exist for this.

Look for books from other publishers on this subject that are still "hungry".

WROX is just cashing in at this point.