Introduction to XSL-FO

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Course duration

Course Benefits

  • Learn how the Formatting Objects (FO) language works
  • Learn to auto-generate FO documents from XML with XSLT
  • Learn to use a Formatting Objects Engine to generate PDF documents from XML
Available Delivery Methods
Public Class
Public expert-led online training from the convenience of your home, office or anywhere with an internet connection. Guaranteed to run .
Private Class
Private classes are delivered for groups at your offices or a location of your choice.

Course Outline

  1. Formatting Objects Basics
    1. The purpose of XSL-FO
    2. How XSL-FO Works
      1. XSL-FO Document Parts
      2. An XSL-FO Example
      3. The Root Element: root
      4. layout-master-set and simple-page-master
      5. Regions
      6. page-sequence
      7. flow and static-content
      8. block
    3. Static Content
      1. region-before and region-after
      2. static-content
  2. Blocks and Inlines
    1. Formatting Blocks
      1. Box Model
      2. Border
      3. Space, Indent and Padding
      4. Background
      5. A Formatting Example
      6. Formatting Text
    2. Inline Elements
    3. Inheritance
      1. wrapper
    4. Creating Lists
      1. list-block
      2. list-item
      3. list-item-label
      4. list-item-body
    5. Whitespace
  3. Page Layout
    1. Page Masters
    2. Simple Layout
      1. fo:simple-page-master
      2. fo:region-body
      3. fo:region-before, fo:region-after, fo:region-start, and fo:region-end
    3. page-sequence-master
      1. Creating a Cover Page
      2. Odd and Even Pages
    4. Blank Pages
      1. break-before and break-after
    5. Columns
  4. Links and Graphics
    1. External Links
    2. Graphics
    3. Internal Links
  5. Tying It All Together: XSL-FO
    1. Tying it all Together
  6. Keeps, Orphans, and Widows
    1. Keep Constraints
      1. keep-with-previous and keep-with-next
      2. keep-together
    2. Orphans and Widows
  7. Leaders, Markers and Page Numbers
    1. The Output
    2. Table of Contents
      1. Page Numbering
    3. Leaders
    4. Markers
  8. Tables
    1. Creating Tables
      1. fo:table
      2. fo:table-column
      3. fo:table-header, fo:table-body, fo:table-footer
      4. fo:table-row
      5. fo:table-cell
  9. Footnotes and Floats
    1. Footnotes
      1. xsl-footnote-separator
    2. Floats

Class Materials

Each student will receive a comprehensive set of materials, including course notes and all the class examples.

Class Prerequisites

Experience in the following is required for this XML class:

  • XML
  • XSLT

Experience in the following would be useful for this XML class:

  • HTML
Prerequisite Courses

Courses that can help you meet these prerequisites:

Follow-on Courses
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