XHTML Web pages are processed and rendered more quickly in the browser than HTML pages because extensive browser code is not needed to handle the more complex rules of HTML. Web users benefit from faster download of DataWindow pages because the XSLT and CSS stylesheets are downloaded only once and cached, resulting in bandwidth savings. Enterprises also benefit from the greater efficiency, scalability, extensibility, and accessibility gained by using standard W3C technologies.
Which type of Web DataWindow to use? The XML and XHTML Web DataWindow expand on the functionality provided by the HTML Web DataWindow. The following table shows you when you should use the XML or XHTML Web DataWindow and when you should use the HTML Web DataWindow:
Feature |
XML |
XHTML |
HTML |
|---|---|---|---|
Web pages conform to industry standards |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Pages can be customized using an XHTML export template |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
XSLT stylesheets are cached |
Yes |
No |
No |
CSS stylesheets are cached |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Common JavaScript files can be cached |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Most efficient handling of large amounts of paged data |
Yes |
No |
No |
Callback mechanism for paging and other client actions |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Client-side mechanism for paging and other client actions |
Yes |
No |
No |
A Grid DataWindow page can be sorted on the client without a postback |
Yes |
No |
No |
Composite and nested DataWindows are supported |
No |
Yes |
No |
Absolute positioning is supported in Grid DataWindows |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Greatest compatibility with accessibility software (Section 508) |
No |
Yes |
No |
The XML rendering format does not support accessibility software. Some aspects of the HTML generated using the HTML rendering format do not support accessibility software.
The caching and bandwidth savings and the client-side paging feature of the XML Web DataWindow result in better performance. In addition, you can customize the XHTML rendering of the XML Web DataWindow using XHTML export templates.
Customizing the XSLT transformation
The XSLT stylesheet that transforms the DataWindow content
to XHTML can be customized by applying a custom XHTML export template
to the default generation. The CSS stylesheet can be customized
by applying custom style attributes in a custom
XHTML export template. Using stylesheets to target the presentation
enables the DataWindow to be rendered on virtually every device. For
information about using the new Export Template view for XHTML in
the DataWindow painter, see “Customizing Web DataWindow generation”.
