IBM alphaWorks
E-Mail Site Map
Search

alphaWorks
Internet Access Required Internet Access Required alphaWorks Press and Awards Information about alphaWorks Internet Access Required XML Tutorials and Papers
XML Translator Generator                                                             | Overview | FAQ | Requirements | Discussion |

OVERVIEW
XML Translator Generator (XTransGen) enables you to convert XML documents and data based on one DTD to another without writing XSL scripts or any program code. It can also be used to filter data from HTML documents into XML documents. This process works in two phases: (1)Setup: first a common example in the two DTDs is used to generate a translator once. (2)Use: this translator is then used to translate XML documents.

  1. Generate a translator: To translate documents from one DTD to another, first the same example data needs to be represented in both the DTDs. A simple way to do this is to take an example XML document using one set of tags and manually edit to generate an XML document using another set of tags. Next, the mapping facility in XTransGen is to generate a translator. This translator generation needs to be done only once for a given pair of DTDs.

  2. Translate: Each time one has a new XML document based on the first DTD, the translator generated in the previous step is used to translate it to an XML document based on the second DTD.

FAQ
  1. What is the IBM XML Translator Generator?

    XTransGen is an XML processor written in Java, that automates the translation of XML documents based on one DTD to another without the need for writing XSL scripts or programs code.

  2. What platform does the XTransGen run on?

    XTransGen runs on Java 1.1 and Java 2, but not Java 1.0. It currently uses IBM's XML for Java parser version 1.1.16 available form alphaWorks and included in the distribution.

  3. What is its relationship to XSL?

    XTransGen is similar to XSL in that it allows translation of XML documents form one DTD to another. However, unlike XSL, no scripts or programs need to be written. XSL allows more types of translations than XTransGen. In future releases, XTransGen will add the capability of generating appropriate XSL scripts for the translation.


REQUIREMENTS
Click here to view the Installation Procedures

XML Translator Generator Platform Requirements
Platform Any Java compliant platform
Java tool JDK 1.1.6 or higher
Additional Java packages XML Parser for Java 1.1.16


XML Translator Generator Installation Procedures

  1. Unzip the ZIP file. The ZIP file contains xtrans.jar, xml4j_1_1_16.jar, Readme and FAQ files, and sample programs.

  2. Add the xtrans.jar to your classpath.

  3. Run "test1" in the samples directory.


DOWNLOADS
File Size Comments  
xtrans.tar.gz 184 KB tar file containing XML Translator Generator.
xtrans.zip 184 KB ZIP file containing XML Translator Generator.