Objective: To create an easily updated navigation system for use on a website hosted on a Microsoft IIS web server.
Solution: Build a system that stores core site navigation in an easily modified XML file then transforms that file as appropriate on page load.
Technologies Used: XML, XSLT, ASP (VBScript)
nav.xml
This is the XML file for the navigation, sections and subsections will be rendered in the order they are entered in.
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<navigation>
<section>
<name>Our Services</name>
<url>/our_services/</url>
<subsection>
<name>Accounting Services</name>
<url>/our_services/accounting.asp</url>
</subsection>
<subsection>
<name>Dog Walking</name>
<url>/our_services/dogwalking.asp</url>
</subsection>
</section>
<section>
<name>Our Partners</name>
<url>/partners/</url>
</section>
<section>
<name>About Us</name>
<url>/about_us/</url>
<subsection>
<name>History</name>
<url>/about_us/history.asp</url>
</subsection>
<subsection>
<name>Staff</name>
<url>/about_us/staff.asp</url>
</subsection>
<subsection>
<name>Job Openings</name>
<url>/about_us/jobs.asp</url>
</subsection>
</section>
</navigation>nav.xsl
XSLT transformation rules for converting nav.xml to HTML
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/TR/WD-xsl">
<xsl:template match="/">
<xsl:apply-templates />
</xsl:template>
<xsl:template match="/navigation" mode="toc">
<xsl:for-each select="section">
<a class="nav1">
<xsl:attribute name="href">
<xsl:value-of select="url" />
</xsl:attribute>
<xsl:value-of select="name" />
</a>
<xsl:for-each select="subsection">
<a class="nav2">
<xsl:attribute name="href">
<xsl:value-of select="url" />
</xsl:attribute>
<xsl:value-of select="name" />
</a>
</xsl:for-each>
</xsl:for-each>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>ASP code
This is the VisualBasic code to read the XML file and then apply the XSLT transformations to it.
<%
Dim sourceFile = Server.MapPath("/xml/nav.xml")
Dim styleFile = Server.MapPath("/xml/nav.xsl")
set source = Server.CreateObject("Microsoft.XMLDOM")
source.async = false
source.load(sourceFile)
set style = Server.CreateObject("Microsoft.XMLDOM")
style.async = false
style.load(styleFile)
Response.Write source.transformNode(style)
%>