XSL/XSLT processors

Software modules and applications are emerging to support each of the standards described above. An XSLT processor physically converts an arbitrary XML document into an XSL document, then an XSL processor interprets the XSL formatting instructions and renders the document content, typically to paper or screen, according to these instructions.

Some XSLT/XSL processors will be tightly integrated into a publishing application of some kind, such as a Web browser or a desktop publishing package, in which case the output from the processors is passed directly to the main application for rendering. The term 'embedded processor' can be used for discussing this kind of processor.

However, some XSLT processors will not be tightly integrated into a presentation application and will instead produce an output data file that can be read by the application later. In this book, the term 'standalone processor' can be used to describe this kind of processor. A standalone processor may be used in several different ways; to create an XSL-styled document or a formatting file of another kind (such as HTML), or to create a new XML document.