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Consuming a Remote RSS 1.0 Feed with Dreamweaver 8


Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Dreamweaver 8: Workspace Orientation
  3. Application Scenario
  4. Creating an XSLT Fragment
  5. Applying Server-Side XSL Transformations
  6. Using Parameters in an XSL Transformation
  7. Creating a Detailed Display of the RSS Feed
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Dreamweaver 8: Workspace Orientation

First, I'll take you on a quick tour of the new XML authoring features in Dreamweaver 8 to help you become familiar with the workspace.

Creating XML and XSL Documents

With Dreamweaver 8, you can create XML and XSL documents from scratch, just as you would create any other type of page. Open Dreamweaver 8 and select File > New. The New Document dialog box appears.

Figure 1. Selecting XSLT (Entire Page) from the New Document dialog box

Figure 1. Selecting XSLT (Entire Page) from the New Document dialog box

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Notice that you can also create XSLT fragments that you can later use to process XML data in your dynamic pages. An XSLT fragment is a file that does not contain the <head> and <body> tags like a full XSLT page. It is a simple piece of code that is later inserted in a dynamic page.

If you already have a static site set up and want to go dynamic, you can easily convert HTML pages into XSL templates, from the File menu by selecting File > Convert > XSLT 1.0, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Converting an HTML page into an XSLT document

Figure 2. Converting an HTML page into an XSLT document

Visual Authoring

The best thing about Dreamweaver 8 is that you get a smooth landing if you plan to take up XML development. You can see a tree-like representation of the XML data source that you're using, right in the Bindings panel:

Figure 3. An XML tree in the Bindings panel

Figure 3. An XML tree in the Bindings panel

You can drag nodes from the tree and drop them onto your XSL stylesheet, as you will learn later in this article.

You can use any of the objects from the XSLT tab on the Insert bar to display repeating nodes, define simple or multiple conditions, and comment your code.

Figure 4. The XSLT tab on the Insert bar

Figure 4. The XSLT tab on the Insert bar

Towards the end of this tutorial, you'll also learn how to use the XSL Transformation server behavior (from the Application panel) in your dynamic pages to process and display XML data:

Figure 5. The XSL Transformation server behavior

Figure 5. The XSL Transformation server behavior

Coding Made Easy

If you'd like to tweak the code or try some XSL tricks of your own, you can do this painlessly using the code hints and code auto-completion features in Dreamweaver 8.

Figure 6. Code hints

Figure 6. Code hints

You'll discover and master all these features in no time, as you follow this tutorial.

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