Learn about other deployment options

In this tutorial, you learned how to create an entire XSLT page to use as part of a client-side transformation. But you can also use entire XSLT pages for server-side transformations. When you use an entire XSLT page for a server-side transformation, you build the page in exactly the same way.

The more common approach to performing server-side transformations, however, is to use XSLT fragments. An XSLT fragment is a piece of code, used by a separate document, that displays formatted XML data.

For a brief overview of entire XSLT pages and XSLT fragments, see Learn about XSLT pages. For a more comprehensive overview of how entire XSLT pages and XSLT fragments work, see About server-side XSL transformations in Using Dreamweaver (Help > Using Dreamweaver).

For tutorials and other resources that teach you about working with XSLT fragments, visit www.macromedia.com/go/dw_xsl.

Following is the workflow for performing server-side transformations with XSLT pages:

• Set up a Dreamweaver site. See Setting Up a Dreamweaver Site in Using Dreamweaver.
• Choose a server technology and set up an application server. See Setting up an application server in Using Dreamweaver.
• Test the application server to make sure it is functioning correctly. For example, create a page that requires processing, and make sure that the application server processes the page. For a tutorial on how to do this, visit www.macromedia.com/go/dw_xsl.
• Do one of the following:
  • In your Dreamweaver site, create an XSLT fragment or an entire XSLT page. See Creating XSLT pages in Using Dreamweaver.
  • Convert an existing HTML page to an entire XSLT page. See Converting HTML pages to XSLT pages in Using Dreamweaver.
• If you haven’t already done so, attach an XML data source to the page. See Attaching XML data sources in Using Dreamweaver.
• Bind your XML data to the XSLT fragment or to the entire XSLT page. See Displaying XML data in XSLT pages in Using Dreamweaver.
• If appropriate, add a Repeat Region XSLT object to the table or table row that contains the XML data placeholder(s). See Displaying repeating XML elements in Using Dreamweaver.
• Do one of the following:
  • Use the XSL Transformation server behavior to insert a reference to the XSLT fragment in your dynamic page. See Inserting XSLT fragments in dynamic pages in Using Dreamweaver.
  • Delete all of the HTML code from a dynamic page, and then use the XSL Transformation server behavior to insert a reference to the entire XSLT page in the dynamic page.
• Post both the dynamic page and the XSLT fragment (or entire XSLT page) to your application server. If you are using a local XML file, you will need to post that as well.
• View the dynamic page in a browser. When you do so, the application server transforms the XML data, inserts it in the dynamic page, and displays it in the browser.