Command line options for XSLTC

Options Examples Simple FAQs Using options from the JAXP transform APIs
| Options |
| The `org.apache.xalan.xslt.Process` command line now supports XSLTC for transformation. You can use the new `-XSLTC` option to enable the XSLTC support. The following existing options can be used with -XSLTC: `-IN, -XSL, -OUT, -V, -EDUMP, -XML, -TEXT, -HTML, -PARAM, -MEDIA, -FLAVOR, -DIAG, -URIRESOLVER, -ENTITYRESOLVER, -CONTENTHANDLER` The following existing options do not work with `-XSLTC`. If any of them is used with `-XSLTC`, a message is printed and the option is ignored. `-QC, -TT, -TG, -TS, -TTC, -TCLASS, -L, -INCREMENTAL, -NOOPTIMIMIZE, -RL` We also have a new set of options for `-XSLTC`. They are all two letter options. The first letter is X and the second letter is the same as the corresponding option in the XSLTC command line `org.apache.xalan.xsltc.cmdline.Compile`. These new options can only be used with `-XSLTC`. If any of them is used with Xalan-Java Interpretive, a message is printed and the option is ignored. Here is the list of the new options: `-XO [optional translet_name]` Assign the name to the generated translet. If the translet_name is omitted, the translet is generated using the default name (same as the xsl). `-XD destination_directory` Specify a destination directory for translet. The generated translet classes will be put under the specified destination directory. `-XJ jar_name` Package translet classes into a jar file of name <jar_name> `-XP package_name` Specify a package name prefix for all generated translet classes `-XN` Enable XSL template inlining into one big method `-XX` Turn on additional debugging message output `-XT` Use translet to transform if possible
| The translet name is the same as the name of the Java class that implements the translet. If the name specified by the `-XO` option or derived from the URL for the stylesheet contains characters that are not permitted in a Java class name, any such character will be replaced with an underscore. For example, if the translet name specified by the `-XO` option is `my-stylesheet`, or if the URL of the stylesheet is `http://example.org/my-stylesheet.xsl`, the translet will actually be named`my_stylesheet`.
| Examples |
| You can just add the `-XSLTC` option to your existing option list so that it will do the same thing as before, but using XSLTC. Here is a simple example on how to use XSLTC: > `java org.apache.xalan.xslt.Process -in test.xml -xsl test.xsl -xsltc` XSLTC compiles the stylesheet on the fly and uses the bytecode in memory to transform the input xml. No translet class is generated in this simple usage pattern. If you want to generate translet classes from the stylesheet, you can use the `-XO` option: > `java org.apache.xalan.xslt.Process -in test.xml -xsl test.xsl -xsltc -xo` This example still uses the stylesheet for transformation, but it also generates the translet class "test.class". You can use the `-XJ, -XP` or `-XD` options to further customize the translet generation behavior. Translets will be generated if any of the options `-XO, -XJ` or `-XT` is used. > `java org.apache.xalan.xslt.Process -in test.xml -xsl test.xsl -xsltc -xo newTranslet -xd temp -xp org.apache.test -xj translets.jar` The above command line uses the xsl for transformation. It also generates translet classes in the name of `newTranslet`, using a package prefix of `org.apache.test`, and packages the translets into the jar file `translets.jar` under the `temp` directory. All of the examples above use the stylesheet to do the transformation. If the translets are already generated, you can use the `-XT` option to specify that you want to use the existing translets for transformation. The `-XT` option has a makefile like feature in that it will compare the timestamps of the translet and the stylesheet. If the translet is newer, it is used for the transformation, otherwise the stylesheet is used and the translet is regenerated. The translet is loaded from the specified destination directory or the current directory, using the specified translet name or the xsl base name, depending on whether the `-XD` or `-XO` option is used. The options `-XO, -XD, -XP` and `-XJ` can be used with the `-XT` option to tell XSLTC how to find the translet classes. The translets are directly read in as bytecode. You do not need to add the translet directory or the jar file to your classpath. Example: > `java org.apache.xalan.xslt.Process -in test.xml -xsl test.xsl -xsltc -xt -xj translets.jar -xd temp` This command line will search for the translet `test.class` inside the jar file `temp/translets.jar`. If it is found and newer than test.xsl, it is used for the transformation; otherwise the xsl is used and the translet is generated and packaged in the same jar. Here is how the makefile feature for the `-XT` option works: If the xsl does not exist, use the translet If the translet does not exist, use the xsl and generate a new translet If both exist and the translet is newer, use the translet for transformation If both exist and the xsl is newer, use the xsl for transformation and regenerate the translet
| Simple FAQs |
| Q: If I use the `-XT` option, how can I tell if it is using the translet or the stylesheet for transformation? A: Use the `-XX` option. When XSLTC uses the translet for transformation, you will see a debug message like "Tranform using translet ..." or "Tranform using translet ... from jar file ...". Q: I want to use a translet for transformation, and I don't have the stylesheet. A: Suppose the translet class is `c:\translets\myTranslet.class`, you can use the following command line: > `java org.apache.xalan.xslt.Process -in test.xml -xsltc -xt -xo myTranslet -xd c:\translets` If you use `-XT` option, the `-XSL` option can be omitted. You have to specify the translet name using the `-XO` option because there is no default translet name in this situation. Q: I only want to compile the stylesheet. I don't want to do a transformation. A: JAXP has no notion of compiling a stylesheet. However, you can achieve the same effect by running a dummy transformation and tell XSLTC to save the translet class. Example: > `java org.apache.xalan.xslt.Process -xsl test.xsl -xsltc -xo` This command runs a transformation on an empty input and generates the translet `test.class`.
| Using options from the JAXP transform APIs |
| You can use some of the attributes in the `TransformerFactoryImpl` class of XSLTC to customize the translet behaviors from JAXP. Here is the list of attributes in `org.apache.xalan.xsltc.trax.TransformerFactoryImpl` and their corresponding Process command line options:
Attributes | Process command line options | Default values
translet-name | -XO | GregorSamsa
destination-directory | -XD | null
package-name | -XP | null
jar-name | -XJ | null
generate-translet |  | false
auto-translet | -XT | false
use-classpath |  | false
enable-inlining | -XN | false
debug | -XX | false
You can set the attributes using the JAXP interface `TransformerFactory.setAttribute(String name, Object value)`. The four attributes `translet-name, destination-directory, package-name and jar-name` are transient. They only apply to the next `newTemplates()` or `newTransformer()` call. Their values are reset to the default after the call. The `generate-translet` attribute does not have a corresponding command line option. This attribute is implied when the `-XO` or `-XJ` option is used. The purpose is to make the command line usage syntax a little bit simpler. Setting the `generate-attribute` attribute to true from JAXP is equivalent to using the `-XO` option without the optional translet name from the Process command line. If the `use-classpath` attribute is set to `true`, the translet will be loaded from the `CLASSPATH`. This attribute is typically used in a case when the translets are packaged in a prebuilt jar file which is included in the `CLASSPATH`. You can set the `translet-name` attribute to indicate which translet to use. If this attribute is not set, the name of the translet is taken from the base name of the stylesheet. The `jar-name` attribute is not used in this situation. The following example shows you how to do the same thing from JAXP for the question 2 in the FAQ.
    // set the system property javax.xml.transform.TransformerFactory in order to use XSLTC
    String key = "javax.xml.transform.TransformerFactory";
    String value = "org.apache.xalan.xsltc.trax.TransformerFactoryImpl";
    Properties props = System.getProperties();
    props.put(key, value);
    System.setProperties(props);

    TransformerFactory tfactory = null;
    try {
      tfactory = TransformerFactory.newInstance();
    }
    catch (TransformerFactoryConfigurationError pfe) { pfe.printStackTrace(); }

    // set the translet name
    tfactory.setAttribute("translet-name", "myTranslet");

    // set the destination directory
    tfactory.setAttribute("destination-directory", "c:\\translets");

    // use the translet for transformation if possible
    tfactory.setAttribute("auto-translet", "true");

    // You can create a Templates object from an empty Source if the translet is specified.
    Templates templates = tfactory.newTemplates(new StreamSource());

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