Presented by Natalie Palermo, LSU Law Center The delivered stylesheets for WorkFlows XML report output are not always user friendly. Once opened in Excel, you can end up with an overwhelming number of columns or data split into multiple rows. This session will demonstrate how to create stylesheets without having to be an expert with XML or XSL.

1. Making WorkFlows XML Report Output
Work for You
LUC 2015
October 7-8, 2015
Natalie Palermo
LSU Law Center Library

2. Agenda
 Attribution
 Background
 Benefits of XML report output
 Drawbacks of XML report output in Excel
 Solution: XSLT stylesheet
 Create your own XSLT stylesheet
 Q & A

3. Attribution
This presentation made possible with information
posted to the SirsiDynix Symphony System-Admin
discussion list by:
Philip Gunderson, San Diego Central Library
pgunderson@sandiego.gov

4. Background
 XML
 Extensible Markup Language
 Markup language much like HMTL
 Designed to store and transport data
 Symphony 3.4 introduced XML output to some
reports
 Using certain print tools (e.g., prtuser)
 Come with default stylesheets
 Stylesheet name is the name of the print tool (e.g., prtuser.xsl)
 Custom stylesheets can be created and uploaded to the server
 Symphony 3.5
 Over 100 reports with XML output

5. Benefits of WF XML Report Output
 Often more useful than delivered report output
 Can get custom output without a custom report
 Can be exported to 3rd party programs (e.g., Excel)

6. Drawbacks of XML Report Output in Excel
 Unnecessary columns
 Multiple rows
 Ambiguous column labels

7. Solution: XSLT Stylesheet
 XSL = Extensible Stylesheet Language
 Stylesheet language for XML documents
 XSLT = Extensible Stylesheet Language
Transformations
 Stylesheet language for transforming XML documents
 XSLT stylesheet
 Expression of a transformation in XSLT
 Knowledge of XML and XSLT is not really necessary
 You will need:
 XML report output from Symphony
 Text editor that can format and indent XML
 Notepad++ with the XML Tools plugin used for this presentation
 XSLT stylesheet template

8. Create Your Own XSLT Stylesheet
1. Identify wanted columns from XML report output
2. Get XML report output from WorkFlows
3. Format XML report output
4. Identify nodes in XML report output
5. Create XSLT stylesheet
6. Link XSLT stylesheet to XML report output
7. Open XML report output in Excel
8. Upload stylesheet to Symphony (optional)

9. 1. Identify Wanted Columns from XML
Output
 View finished report with XML output in Excel
 Reminder: uncheck view log
 Note the column headings you want

10. 2. Get XML Report Output from WorkFlows
 View finished report (without log and style sheet)
 If application to view XML reports is Excel:
 Remove Excel as the application to view XML reports in Report
Session settings (remember not to save properties)
 Save the XML file in the same directory with your
XSLT template

11. 3. Format XML Report Output
 Open file in Notepad++
 Click Plugins from the
menu
 Click XML Tools
 Click Pretty print (XML
only -- with line breaks)

12. Nicely Formatted XML Report Output

13. Closer Look
 Each user’s output includes:
 userID, name, library, address1, address2, address3, and
note extended info

14. 4. Identify Nodes in XML Report Output
 Follow the indented hierarchy of each <tag></tag>
pair
 Each <tag></tag> pair represents a node
 Ignore the following tags:
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <title></title>
 <dateCreated></dateCreated>
 <dateFormat></dateFormat>
 <report></report> is always the highest node in the
hierarchy of WF XML report output
 A node set is a set of nodes (node within a node)

15. 4. Identify Nodes in XML Report Output

16. 5. Create XSLT Stylesheet
 Start with:
 Top four lines mean:
 This is an XML document
 This is an XSLT stylesheet
 The output will be XML, indented according to its hierarchy
 The rules to follow will be applied to specified node set

17. 5. Create XSLT Stylesheet
 Name <node1></node1>
 Container for our output, like an Excel spreadsheet name
 Our example: <users></users>
 Supply the path for <xsl:for-each> select attribute
 <xsl:for-each> represents a loop
 Path is the highest XML node set that includes the data
we want included in our output
 Our example: <xsl:for-each select="report/user">
 Name <node2></node2>
 Container for each record, like an Excel row
 Our example: <userline></userline>

18. 5. Create XSLT Stylesheet

19. 5. Create XSLT Stylesheet
 Name <node3></node3>
 Container for each type of data, like an Excel column
 Use tag names that you see in XML (e.g., <userID>)
 Repeat and name as many times as needed
 Supply the path for each <xsl:value-of> select
attribute
 Path is the XML node or node set containing the data
 Include attributes as needed [@name="value"]
 Like an Excel cell
 Examples:

20. 5. Create XSLT Stylesheet
 Extended info in <node3></node3>
 1st instance only
 Supply the path for <xsl:value-of> select attribute
 All instances
 Supply <xsl:for-each> loop within the main <xsl:for-each> loop

21. 5. Create XSLT Stylesheet
 Save stylesheet with a new name (e.g., listusers.xsl)

22. 6. Link XSLT Stylesheet to XML Report
Output
 Add the following as line 2 to the XML report output
 <?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="stylesheet.xsl"?>
 stylesheet.xsl is the name of your XSLT stylesheet
 Our example: <?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl"
href="listusers.xsl"?>
 Save your XML report output

23. XML and XSLT Stylesheet Side-by-Side
 Note: this stylesheet excludes displayName, library,
address2, and address3 from original XML output

24. 7. Open XML Report Output in Excel
 Open Excel
 Click File tab
 Click Open
 Navigate to XML file and click Open
 Click 2nd radio button option in Import XML dialog
 XSLT stylesheet will be selected
 Click OK
 Click Yes to open file (ignore different format
message)
 Click OK to open file as an XML table
 Click OK (ignore message about schema)

25. Your XSLT Stylesheet Works!!!

26. 8. Upload Stylesheet to Symphony
(Optional)
 Once your stylesheet is complete, it is ready for
uploading to the Symphony server
 Allows you to select the stylesheet when the report is run
 Eliminates the need to link the XSLT stylesheet to the
XML
 Open a Footprints to request the upload
 Specify the default stylesheet upon which your custom
stylesheet was created
 Stylesheet will be uploaded to the directory for that print tool
 Limits availability of stylesheet to reports using the same print
tool
 listusers.xsl would not be available for List Bibliography report
 Now, select your custom XSLT stylesheet when
running the report and opening the XML output in

27. Q & A

28. Contact Information
Natalie Palermo
LSU Law Center Library
(225) 578-6530
natalie.palermo@law.lsu.edu