Note: ColdFusion, ASP, and ASP.NET servers should be able to process XSLT pages using the default server configuration. No special modifications should be required to the server's configuration. See Application server and web server test pages (TechNote 16399) to verify that your application server is working in general. The Dreamweaver XML Authoring feature is compatible with ColdFusion MX 7 and ColdFusion MX 6.1. The Dreamweaver XML Authoring feature is not compatible with ColdFusion MX 6.0, so you should install the ColdFusion 6.1 updater on the server if you want to use the Dreamweaver XML Authoring feature.

The major breakthrough in Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 is visual authoring with XML data. You can now perform both client-side and server-side XSL transformations in a snap. I covered XML syntax in one of my previous articles. I also presented the XSL syntax and covered the differences between a server-side and a client-side transformation in my article, XSL Overview. Finally, in the article, Consuming a Remote RSS Feed with Dreamweaver 8, I show you how to consume a remote feed in your site, using the XSL Transformation server behavior in Dreamweaver 8.

This article explains how to install and configure XML and XSL support for your web server, in order to be able to perform server-side XSL transformations. The article covers the configuration of PHP application servers—versions 4 and 5—for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux operating systems.

In a server-side XSL transformation, the server performs the actual work of producing HTML output using pre-installed libraries for XML and XSL support. In a client-side transformation, however, the client's browser does the work of fetching the XML and XSL files and producing the HTML output. The downside of this approach is that not all browsers have XML/XSL support, so some of your clients might not be able to see your pages. There are also other advantages to server-side XSL transformations:

• The file containing the XML data can reside on your own server or anywhere else on the web.
• Any browser can display the transformed data.

Quickly Testing Your PHP Server for Server-Side XSL Transformation Capability

Your PHP server may already be set up to do XSL transformations. You can quickly test it by following these steps:

1. Download the sample files linked below.
2. Unzip the ZIP file into your web root and upload the entire xslt_test folder to your web server running PHP.
3. Open a browser and browse to the test.php file on your server. If you receive an error, please continue reading this article. I will show you how to configure and test your PHP server for XSL transformations. If the test.php page returns a list of articles from the Macromedia Developer Center, I encourage you to read my article, Consuming a Remote RSS 1.0 Feed with Dreamweaver 8, in which I will show you how to build the test.php page.

Requirements

To complete this tutorial you will need to install the following software and files:

Dreamweaver 8

• Try
• Buy

Sample files:

• xslt_test.zip (ZIP, 8K)

System Requirements

• You have installed and properly configured a web server with PHP 4.2.0 or later scripting language support. If you haven't done so already, read the recommended articles from the “Prerequisite knowledge” section below.
• You have defined a Dreamweaver site with a testing server or remote server running PHP. Check out this TechNote for correctly defining your site.

Prerequisite Knowledge

• You have read my previous articles on XML and XSL:

  • XML Overview
  • XSL Overview
• Familiarity with the Dreamweaver workspace and interface.
• Familiarity with the operating system running on the computer you plan to use for a server.
• If you use Linux, read David Sklar's article, Setting up a PHP server environment using LAMP.
• If you use Mac OS, read David Power's article, Setting up a PHP development environment for Dreamweaver.

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