"xmlto pdf" stylesheet issues

"xmlto pdf" stylesheet issues

[Aaron Weber]

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Heigh ho.

I've got a couple of quick questions.

First, background: I have a multi-file, valid, well-formed Docbook 4.1
XML document.  (xmllint --noount --noent --valid tells me it's OK, at
least). I have converted it into reasonable HTML using the default
stylesheets, with a little customization done by stylesheet-knowers here
at Ximian. All well and good.

My Task: I'm now being asked for a PDF. I have managed to build a
sort-of-ugly PDF (some pages have all the text in a tiny column down one
side, for example, there are no stylesheet images, and I'll definitely
need to customize the variablelists because they give equal space to the
term and its explanation, which is not what I want exactly in terms of
output, etc. etc.).

My Problem:  I can't figure out what it was that I installed that made
it work, so our stylesheet-knowing-person can't actually reproduce even
that much.

I have xmlto 0.0.8-3 and the latest versions of tetex, tetex-dvips,
passivetex, xmltex, and so forth.

My questions: 
What packages are required for converting a Docbook XML file to a PDF
file, since it works for me and not for anyone else?

Am I using the recommended procedure, or is there a tool other than
xmlto that I should be using?

Why would a PDF appear so broken when the HTML didn't?  Just the page
size? I can see how running out of space would make a <screen> entry
look pretty broken.

a.


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Re: "xmlto pdf" stylesheet issues

[John Fleck]

Aaron -

My solution's off-topic for this list, but I have had good success using
xsltproc to generate fo files, then fop to generate the pdf's.

Robert Stayton has written an excellent guide to the tool chain and its
installation and use:

http://www.sagehill.net/xml/docbookxsl/index.html

Cheers,
John

On Tue, 2003-01-28 at 10:03, Aaron Weber wrote:
> Heigh ho.
> 
> I've got a couple of quick questions.
> 
> First, background: I have a multi-file, valid, well-formed Docbook 4.1
> XML document.  (xmllint --noount --noent --valid tells me it's OK, at
> least). I have converted it into reasonable HTML using the default
> stylesheets, with a little customization done by stylesheet-knowers
> here at Ximian. All well and good.
> 
> My Task: I'm now being asked for a PDF. I have managed to build a
> sort-of-ugly PDF (some pages have all the text in a tiny column down
> one side, for example, there are no stylesheet images, and I'll
> definitely need to customize the variablelists because they give equal
> space to the term and its explanation, which is not what I want
> exactly in terms of output, etc. etc.).
> 
> My Problem:  I can't figure out what it was that I installed that made
> it work, so our stylesheet-knowing-person can't actually reproduce
> even that much.
> 
> I have xmlto 0.0.8-3 and the latest versions of tetex, tetex-dvips,
> passivetex, xmltex, and so forth.
> 
> My questions: 
> What packages are required for converting a Docbook XML file to a PDF
> file, since it works for me and not for anyone else?
> 
> Am I using the recommended procedure, or is there a tool other than
> xmlto that I should be using?
> 
> Why would a PDF appear so broken when the HTML didn't?  Just the page
> size? I can see how running out of space would make a <screen> entry
> look pretty broken.
> 
> a.
-- 
John Fleck
jfleck@inkstain.net (h) jfleck@abqjournal.com (w)
http://www.inkstain.net http://www.abqjournal.com

"Sometimes, a diner is all about the mac and cheese." 
  - Zippy the Pinhead

Re: "xmlto pdf" stylesheet issues

[Tim Waugh]

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On Tue, Jan 28, 2003 at 08:46:25PM -0700, John Fleck wrote:

> My solution's off-topic for this list, but I have had good success using
> xsltproc to generate fo files, then fop to generate the pdf's.

I would welcome a tested patch for xmlto that adds support for it to
use FOP.

And yes, the problem is more likely to be with passivetex than with
the stylesheets.

Tim.
*/

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