side by side vs. replace?

[Angel2228]

Ok, i need some clarification.

What is the difference in running your parser in side by side mode vs. replace? i know the technical answer to this, but what does it really mean when it comes to XSL Transformation? Why does my XSLT run properly in replace mode and not in side by side? how can i make it run properly in side by side? (i know that's difficult to tell me without the code, but if you have any clues as to what works in side by side vs. replace, please let me know.)

and seriously....does MSXML 4.0 take care of this problem? it claims to dispel with the replace mode, but i am still having trouble getting my XSLT to work.

If i could skirt this issue by doing server side transformations then i would. but i cant. it ALL has to be client side.

Thanks for any advice.

Angel

 

[JJR]

Hi Angel,

Perhaps I can shed some light:

The version 2.0 releases of the MSXML parser were based on a pre-Recommendation draft of the W3C XSL specification. It used the outdated namespace:

http://www.w3.org/TR/WD-xsl.

With the release of the 3.0 parser, which implementes the the W3C standard for Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT)(identified by the namespace:

http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform)

the syntax of the xsl changed dramatically.

In order however to let your applications perform as expected, Microsoft has offered you the possibility to install MSXML3 in side-by-side mode.

However...

Since the 2.0 version is included in versions of IE from 4.01 SP1 up to 5.5 and the 3.0 version only just yet in 6.0, the only (practical) way to perform client-side transformations is to implement the old namespace and syntax in your xsl

If your clients install in replace-mode, the xsl will not work in IE. If they install in side-by-side mode or have a version of IE higher then 4.01 SP1, the xsl will work with the outdated namespace and syntax only.

Finally, MSXML 4.0 does not solve this problem. The only problem it solves is that there were some problems (conflicts) with side-by-side mode and these have been solved this to the extend that MSXML4.0 can truly run side-by-side without causing any collisions with previous versions.

I hope this sheds some light!

Good luck!

Jordi Reineman
Cap Gemini Ernst & Young