XSLT list Basics

1. List ettiquette
2. About the XSLT list
3. XSL-List guidelines
4. XSL-list archive, second source

List ettiquette

Brian Martinez

> > It's bad form to piggyback an unrelated question on a
> existing thread.
> Doing that makes it difficult to follow the discussion. That
> being said,
> here is how to solve your problem.
>
> apologize for this.. forgot to change the subject line.

It's not a matter of changing the subject line--when this message is archived along with the others, it may not appear in its own thread because the message IDs are related to each other. This makes it much more difficult to search the archives. If you wish to ask a new question, DON'T reply to an existing message, and DON'T just change the subject line. Click on 'New' in your e-mail client. Add 'xsl-list@lists.mulberrytech.com' to your address book to make creating new messages a little easier. Check out the list FAQ for more details (MulberryTech.com).

(Perhaps this needs to be emphasized a bit more in the FAQ . . . I know that a couple of people cited this problem as their primary reason for unsubscribing from the list.)

About the XSLT list

Wendell Piez

As you've already surmised, this list is unparelleled as a resource on XSL. Not only do we have implementors and hard-core developers and users of XSLT, but also experts in all kinds of XML-related issues that have some bearing on XSL (the nitty-gritty of character encoding; browser tips and tricks; XML applications such as web services, DocBook, TEI, SVG; name-your-programming-language etc. etc.), as well as people who make their living doing XML and XSL design and consulting. And trainers and yes, the authors of the books. In other words, the bench is very deep. Yet it's not just an insider's list: we get lots of traffic from newbies tackling their very first problem in XSLT, sometimes in XML period.

In part because the list has covered the ground so thoroughly already -- old-timers have read, and *written*, it all before (the list goes back over four years now) -- this combination makes us a bit wary (or weary) of answering yet another question about basics. Especially now that there are books, not all of which are unmitigated disasters. (An awesome book could be put together just from the list archives, which are well worth the visit. In some respects DaveP's XSL FAQ represents that effort.) Accordingly, we are sometimes guilty of being a little short with open-ended requests for help on very basic questions.

Nonetheless, we do know basic questions are -- basic. Very important. Moreover, one reason some of us like XSLT is because of its feature set as a processing language for XML, a feature set that is rather unusual, and therefore sometimes a bit hard for the newcomer to grasp. But powerful! especially at the kinds of things XSL was designed to do. For example -- capturing the text "around" a node. If XSLT is used in the way it's designed to be used, this is trivial.

So -- if you want a tip on *the* XSLT book, just ask (the question is in scope). Better, check out the list archives, summarize your findings, and post them to us asking whether the state of the book market has advanced since the last time we covered the question. (It has. And some of us have opinions that may be almost as well informed as your instructor's. ;-)

Or: find everything you need to know about XSLT in the archives themselves. There are some real gems in there.

XSL-List guidelines

List owner

Posting Guidelines

Only subscribers can post to XSL-List, and only from the exact address they used when they subscribed.

There is no restriction on what may be posted to the XSL-List provided it is related to XSL. Items concerning XML but without a direct connection to XSL should be posted to a XML-related list instead of to the XSL-List. Items related to DSSSL should be posted to the DSSSList.

Do not begin your subject line with "help" or "subscribe" since the list software will bounce the message because it looks like is an administrative request.

It is best to start a new message for a new thread. Do not start a new thread by replying to an unrelated message and just changing the subject line, since the header of your message will contain references to the previous message and your new message will appear in the archive as one of the replies to the original message.

Both subscribers to the full list (xsl-list@lists.mulberrytech.com) and subscribers to the digest (xsl-list-digest@lists.mulberrytech.com) should post their messages to xsl- list@lists.mulberrytech.com; the messages will be received by both subscribers to the list and subscribers to the digest. Before You Post ... Do Your Homework

* Check that your question isn't already answered in the XSL FAQ at http://www.dpawson.co.uk/.

* Check that your question isn't already answered in the XSL-List archives at http://www.biglist.com/lists/xsl-list/archives/.

* If you are asking for help with XSL code, determine which version of the language you are using (plus extensions, if any), and confirm that your XSL processor supports that version and/or extension. (If you are unsure of your processor, this can be determined by using the stylesheet at http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list/processor-version.xsl on any input, including the stylesheet itself: see http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list/processor-version.html for more information.) An XSLT 1.0 engine will not process stylesheets written in XSLT 2.0!

In Your Posting ...

Name the XSL processor, processor version, and version of the language you are using. This information is frequently necessary to diagnose a problem exactly, and always helps respondents give good advice.

If you are replying to a post, trim the quoted message to just the parts to which you are replying.

In addition to following simple rules of net etiquette and common sense, you will improve the chances that you will receive prompt and helpful responses by:

* Asking questions specific enough that answers are possible. Describe what you are trying to do, how you approached it, what happened, and why you don't like the result you got. Don't simply say "it gave me an error": paste in the error message (someone else can probably make sense of it).

* Illustrating your question with a demonstration of the problem. Well-composed questions frequently include a small XML sample, an XSLT stylesheet, the results received, and the result that was desired - all in miniature, to make it comprehensible to readers new to your problem. (It is also not uncommon to discover what a problem actually is in the process of reducing it to an illustrative version.)

Use Informative Subject Lines

When posting to the XSL-List, do not use uninformative subject lines like "Urgent", "Question", or "Newbie HELP!!!", which don't say anything about what your problem is. Instead, use a meaningful subject line that will make sense to the people whose help you are trying to get. It may even get a response from people who normally shy away from "beginner" questions.

Informative subject lines make the XSL-List archive more useful since people with the same problem will more easily find the relevant threads. Do Not Cross-Post

Cross-posting to the XSL-List and to another list, even XML-Dev or the DSSSList, is generally counter-productive. No list's archive will contain the complete thread; cross-posts from non-subscribers continuing the thread will bounce; and XSL-List subscribers who are not also on the other list will only see half the thread, as will those on the other list who are not also reading XSL- List. Subscribers to both lists may see two copies of the message, annoying them as well. Replies Go to the List

The reply address of XSL-List messages (and of digests) is xsl-list@lists.mulberrytech.com so REPLIES GO TO THE LIST BY DEFAULT. If you want to reply to just the author of a post, you should change the "To:" field in your reply. Use Short Quotes of Previous Messages in Replies

Please do not quote entire messages just to add a few lines at the beginning or end. Instead, quote the parts to which you are directly replying or quote enough to establish the context.

Everybody on the list has already received the message that you are quoting, and anyone searching the archive will find your message and the previous message listed under the same thread.

Subscribers to the XSL-List will just ignore most of the quoted messages and move to the next post, but subscribers to the XSL-List Digest will mostly have to page past the quoted messages to reach the next material in which they are interested in reading. Attachments are Banned

Since Mulberry's mailing lists have in the past been unwittingly used for spreading viruses in e-mail attachments, all e-mail attachments are banned from the XSL-List.

XSL stylesheets are XML files, and XML files are text files, so this does not affect the majority of posts to the list since you can include the files' text in the body of your message. If you need to refer to a binary file such as a PDF file, you should put the file on a Web site or FTP site and include the file's URL in your XSL-List post.

If you do include an attachment in your XSL-List post -- even a HTML attachment -- your message will bounce. Remember! (The Internet Does)

Because it is a public resource created by and for the entire XSL community, we do not edit XSL-List. Therefore, it is responsibility of list subscribers not to post anything to the list that they do not want publicly available, possibly for a very long time. Unsubscribing from the XSL-List

To unsubscribe from XSL-List, use the form at mulberrytech.

Unsubscribing from the XSL-List Digest

To unsubscribe from the XSL-List digest, use the form at mulberrytech.

If You Stop Getting XSL-List Messages

If you stop receiving XSL-List message, you may have been removed because mail to you was bouncing. You are not being picked on, and you can just rejoin the list.

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