When you have configured the pieces the XML Web DataWindow needs, here is what happens when a user requests the URL for a page containing the DataWindow.
Server-side code is used to invoke the Web DataWindow generator. During the generation process:
Using the default XHTML export template or a custom template you created, an XHTML rendering of the DataWindow is generated in a DOM tree.
A CSS style sheet is generated in a DOM tree with the style information for the DataWindow elements.
Generating as many of the style rules in CSS as possible (including all absolute positions) increases page download speed because the stylesheet is downloaded only once and cached.
Client-side JavaScript files are generated for instantiating the control object and the array of row elements.
You can improve performance by generating most of this client-side JavaScript in static files. For information about how you create and deploy the static JavaScript files, see “Generating JavaScript for common management tasks”.
A reverse transformation of the XHTML DOM tree to XML (DataWindow content) and XSLT (DataWindow layout) occurs.
XSLT also creates the structural layout of the page, saving bandwidth. Server processing is also reduced by offloading work to the client.
A small amount of JavaScript is generated to perform explicit transformation on the client side to render in the browser a fully functional DataWindow in XHTML.
XHTML and HTML DataWindows
The XHTML Web DataWindow generates separate CSS and JavaScript
files, but it does not generate the XML content and XSLT structure
in separate files. It renders an XHTML page in the browser. The
HTML Web DataWindow renders an HTML page.
When a user accesses a Web page containing the XML Web DataWindow, the client browser:
Downloads the source XML file (DataWindow content for the page) and the XSLT stylesheet, which is cached locally.
Performs the transformation using the XSLT processor built in to the client browser.
Outputs the XHTML result into a <div> section on the page.
Downloads, caches, and applies the CSS stylesheet for display in the browser.
Downloads and caches JavaScript files.
When there is a subsequent action by the user (HTTP Post/HTTP response), regenerates and downloads the XML file and JavaScript row objects file for the updated DataWindow page.
The XML Web DataWindow requires browsers that support the latest client-side technologies—XML, XSLT, XHTML, CSS, and JavaScript. You can select the browser to use for the XML Web DataWindow (XHTML format) in the Web Generation page in the DataWindow object property view:
Browser |
XML parser/XSLT processor |
XSLT version |
|---|---|---|
Internet Explorer 5, 5.5 |
MSXML 2.0, 2.5 (update required) |
XSL-WD |
Internet Explorer 6.0 |
MSXML 3.0 |
XSLT 1.0 |
Netscape 6+ |
TransforMiiX |
XSLT 1.0 |
Mozilla 1.0 |
TransforMiiX |
XSLT 1.0 |
MSXML 2.6 or higher is required with Internet Explorer
The XML Web DataWindow requires MSXML 2.6 or higher with Internet Explorer.
Internet Explorer 5 or 5.5 includes MSXML 2.0 or 2.5, so you must either
update MSXML to 2.6 or higher or use Internet Explorer 6.0. For information
about MSXML versions, refer to “Version list for the Microsoft XML
parser” on the Microsoft Help and Support Web site.
