The XSLT C library for Gnome

If you need help with the XSLT language itself, here are a number ofuseful resources:

• I strongly suggest to subscribe to XSL-list, check the XSL-listarchives
• The XSL FAQ.
• The tutorialwritten by Paul Grosso and Norman Walsh is a very good on-lineintrodution to the language.
• The onlyZvon XSLT tutorialdetails a lot of constructs with examples.
• Jeni Tennison'sXSLTpages provide links to a lot of answers
• the Gallery ofXSLT Tricksprovides non-standard use case of XSLT
• And I suggest to buy Michael Kay "XSLT Programmer's Reference" bookpublished by Wroxif you plan to workseriously with XSLT in the future.

Well, bugs or missing features are always possible, and I will make apoint of fixing them in a timely fashion. The best way to report a bug is touse the Gnome bugtracking database(make sure to use the "libxslt" module name). Beforefiling a bug, check the list of existinglibxslt bugsto make sure it hasn't already been filed. I look at reportsthere regularly and it's good to have a reminder when a bug is still open. Besure to specify that the bug is for the package libxslt.

For small problems you can try to get help on IRC, the #xml channel onirc.gnome.org (port 6667) usually have a few person subscribed which may help(but there is no garantee and if a real issue is raised it should go on themailing-list for archival).

There is also a mailing-list xslt@gnome.orgfor libxslt, with an on-line archive. To subscribeto this list, please visit the associated Webpageand follow the instructions.

Alternatively, you can just send the bug to the xslt@gnome.orglist, if it's really libxsltrelated I will approve it.. Please do not send me mail directly especiallyfor portability problem, it makes things really harder to track and in somecases I'm not the best person to answer a given question, ask the listinstead. Do not send code, I won't debug it(but patches arereally appreciated!).

Please note that with the current amount of virus and SPAM, sending mailto the list without being subscribed won't work. There is *far too manybounces* (in the order of a thousand a day !) I cannot approve them manuallyanymore. If your mail to the list bounced waiting for administrator approval,it is LOST ! Repost it and fix the problem triggering the error. Also pleasenote that emails witha legal warning asking to not copy or redistribute freely the informationsthey containare NOTacceptable for the mailing-list,such mail will as much as possible be discarded automatically, and are lesslikely to be answered if they made it to the list, DO NOTpost to the list from an email address where such legal requirements areautomatically added, get private paying support if you can't shareinformations.

Check the following too beforeposting:

• use the search engineto get informationsrelated to your problem.
• make sure you are using a recentversion, and that the problem still shows up in those
• check the listarchivesto see if the problem was reported already, in this casethere is probably a fix available, similarly check the registeredopen bugs
• make sure you can reproduce the bug with xsltproc, a very useful thingto do is run the transformation with -v argument and redirect thestandard error to a file, then search in this file for the transformationlogs just preceding the possible problem
• Please send the command showing the error as well as the input andstylesheet (as an attachment)

Then send the bug with associated informations to reproduce it to the xslt@gnome.orglist; if it's really libxsltrelated I will approve it. Please do not send mail to me directly, it makesthings really hard to track and in some cases I am not the best person toanswer a given question, ask on the list.

To be really clear about support:

• Support or help request MUST be sent tothe list or on bugzillain case of problems, so that the Questionand Answers can be shared publicly. Failing to do so carries the implicitmessage "I want free support but I don't want to share the benefits withothers" and is not welcome. I will automatically Carbon-Copy thexslt@gnome.org mailing list for any technical reply made about libxml2 orlibxslt.
• There is no garantee for support,if your question remains unanswered after a week, repost it, making sureyou gave all the detail needed and the informations requested.
• Failing to provide informations as requested or double checking firstfor prior feedback also carries the implicit message "the time of thelibrary maintainers is less valuable than my time" and might not bewelcome.

Of course, bugs reports with a suggested patch for fixing them willprobably be processed faster.

If you're looking for help, a quick look at the list archivemay actuallyprovide the answer, I usually send source samples when answering libxsltusage questions. The auto-generated documentationisnot as polished as I would like (I need to learn more about Docbook), butit's a good starting point.

Daniel Veillard