XProc as a command-line application engine

Erik Siegel

freelance
Xatapult

Abstract

This paper explores the use of XProc 3.0 in developing a set of command-line applications for converting XML documents into various derivatives. XProc is used as the core of the application and it experiments with building the application logic in XProc, including command-line handling and file/directory management. The paper proposes two design patterns that can be widely applied to use XProc effectively in developing command-line applications.


Table of Contents

Introduction
What is XProc?
The problem domain
Is XProc a suitable language?
Design pattern 1: Job tickets
The job ticket
Design pattern 2: Command line wrappers
Wrap-up and conclusions