Feature list

Learn about the XSLfast features and how they'll fit into your next project.
See what is new in Version 6.0 and check out the documentation.

If you have any requests for new editors or features, please feel free to contact us.

XSLfast features:

General

• Cross media publishing for every XML data
• Create forms, invoices, product sheets, catalogs, prices lists, ...
• Design templates for database publishing, print-on-demand and batch publishing
• No XSL-FO or XSLT-programming skills necessary
• Generate (PDF) output with an WYSIWYG editor
• Search everywhere
• Comparison of layouts
• Different layout elements available: Text, Number, Image, Table, List, Date/Time, Hyperlink, Barcode, Square, Lines, Index, XSLcode
• XPath and XSL support for advanced users
• Support of multiple monitors: Simplifies and accelerates layout creation

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User interface

• Clearly structured user interface
• Simple and intuitive to use
• WYSIWYG template definition
• Comfortable use with drag and drop
• Inspector window (categorized and alphabeted)
• Unlimited undo options
• Items dragged over the sheet can be set to semi-transparent so the background can still be seen
• User defined default values for all components
• Layer support. Organisation of different layers. Single layer can be set to visible/invisible
• Elements can be locked at the working sheet
• Resizable grid making designer's work easier
• On-the-fly preview: The preview window shows how your layout really looks
• Simple alignment of frames, e.g. all same left position via mouse click
• Different measure support allows precise handling of points, millimeters, inches, centimeters

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Page layout

• Multiple page layouts in one XSLfast layout definition
• Support of normal, odd, even, title and tail pages
• Regions (left, right, top, bottom) like header, footer for every page possible
• Page break on every element level available (simple usage via checkbox)
• Combination of multiple pages from several independent layouts
• Import/export pages from multilayout
• Index generation
• Paper margins

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Output and print

• Cross media and multi channel publishing
• Different output formats and files (PDF, HTML, XSL-FO)
• Support of different renderers (FOP, RenderX XEP, AntennaHouse XSL Formatter)
• Dynamic generated XSLT can be saved and used in batch publishing
• Color spaces support for digital print (RGB and CYMK)
• Crop marks (under construction)

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Fonts

• Registration of available fonts on the current system with the renderer. Potentially incompatible fonts are displayed and can be excluded via a text file
• Support for automatically font metrics generation. (Needed for renderer process)
• Word like layout editor (WYSIWYG)
• Logical styles can be used, e.g. header1, header2 or standard text
• Fonts are embedded in the generate PDF document (renderer and font dependent)
• Different fonts can be used in one text element

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Internationalisation

• Support of UTF-8 fonts
• Possibility to insert any symbol (e.g. mathematical)
• Definition of regions and margin are not left or right, but start and end
• Different writing direction

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Layout element functionality

• Different layout elements available: Text, Number, Image, Table, List, Date/Time, Hyperlink, Barcode, Square, Lines, Index, XSLcode
• Basic information on every element on mouse over
• Indicators on the element for type, placement, assignment to regions, possible conflicts of placement, visibility and others can be switched on/off
• Element properties support: filters, alternate color, sort modes, precision management and more
• Conversion between text elements and date, currency and other element types possible
• Grouping at page and table elements allows looping over matching XML nodes. E.g. all products within a product group or all persons within a company
• grouping functions: hinting depending on attached XML file, most reasonable groupings are available from context menu and much more
• Filtering the XML data is possible by normal and virtual methods

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Particular element functionality

• Different text styles in one text element; paragraph and character settings, including fonts, font styles, colors, alignments and other
• Advanced number formatting including predefined formats
• Text flow provides the ability to combine XPath expressions and static text within one element
• Default directories for root and images can be specified
• Background images for tables, table rows and table cells
• Table header and footer can be omitted at page break
• Ability to place many objects inside one table cell
• Easy list creation
• List element with different enumeration types
• Barcodes can be created via fonts or SVG graphics
• Specification of item names, also selection of elements from a list box with all currently existing elements

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Advanced users support

• XSLfast supports XPath and allows complex expressions. This gives the designer the ability to control the output as exact and precise as necessary
• Regulated generation for every element (possibility to use conditions)
• Advanced support for custom variables and imports
• Multiple external template files can be used
• Support of external templates
• Import of XSL files possible
• Page grouping with no specific root node
• XSL templates can be imported as layouts
• Java namespaces and different unit of measures are available in XSL/XSL-FO files natively
• Password protection of layout files
• Find/Replace within elements, XPath expression, etc. has been added
• A wizard for element conditions (XPath) is now available

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