Re: Teaching XSLT - Default Tempalte Rules

[Wendell Piez <wapiez at mulberrytech dot com>]

Francois,

When Mulberry teaches this stuff, we present the issue of the node-tree
data model right off, complete with pictures. It helps keep the students
out of trouble. Accordingly, the default templates also come in fairly
early, since they are very important in understanding how templates chain
from one to the next.

I have just pulled down the latest prerelease of IBM's XSL Editor, which
I'm hoping works better for me than their version 1. They have some
tracing/display stuff I think might be pretty useful in showing off how
templates match and then select new node sets to be matched.

In our experience, HTML/SGMLers have less trouble getting used to the
'funkiness' of XSL than experienced procedural programmers (especially the
self-taught, who may not be deep in theories of data structures), who
sometimes make incorrect assumptions based on the line/character stream
data model they are used to. You really have to learn to read your source
file in a different way. ("It's just a text file, right?" "Noo....")
SGMLers who are already used, for example, to structured editors, are often
much of the way there already.

I'd be interested in hearing if others have different experience or points
of view.

Good luck and enjoy (and LTNS!),
Wendell

At 03:37 PM 2/23/00 -0500, you wrote:
>Over the last couple of months I have had the occassion to consult
>several different sets of XsLT teaching materials. Many of the authors are
>regular posters to the list.
>
>Am therefore soliciting opinions.
>
>At what point in a presentation to XSLT-neophytes should one point out the
>behaviour of the default template rules? Or more generally is there a
>better order of presentation to help learners, especially those coming
>from HTML and SGML, move towards thinking in terms of nodes instead of
>elements?
>
>
>-- 
>Francois Lachance 
>Post-doctoral Fellow
>projet HYPERLISTES project
>http://www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~hyplist/
>
>
> XSL-List info and archive:  http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list
>
>

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Wendell Piez                            mailto:wapiez@mulberrytech.com
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