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Debugging XSLT Stylesheets and XQuery Documents

Oxygen XML Developer includes a powerful debugging interface that helps you to detect and solve problems with XSLT and XQuery transformations.

XSLT Debugger Perspective

The XSLT Debugger perspective allows you to detect problems in an XSLT transformation by executing the process step by step. To switch the focus to this perspective, select the XSLT Debugger button in the top-right corner of the interface or Window > Open perspective > XSLT Debugger.

XQuery Debugger Perspective

The XQuery Debugger perspective allows you to detect problems in an XQuery transformation process by executing the process step by step in a controlled environment and inspecting the information provided in the special views. To switch the focus to this perspective, select the XQuery Debugger button in the top-right corner of the interface or Window > Open perspective > XQuery Debugger.

XSLT/XQuery Debugging Overview

The XSLT Debugger and XQuery Debugger perspectives allows you to test and debug XSLT 1.0 / 2.0 / 3.0 stylesheets and XQuery 1.0 / 3.0 documents including complex XPath 2.0 / 3.0 expressions. The interface presents simultaneous views of the source XML document, the XSLT/XQuery document and the result document. As you go step by step through the XSLT/XQuery document the corresponding output is generated step by step, and the corresponding position in the XML file is highlighted. At the same time, special views provide various types of debugging information and events useful to understand the transformation process.

The following set of features allow you to test and solve XSLT/XQuery problems:

  • Support for XSLT 1.0 stylesheets (using Saxon 6.5.5 and Xalan XSLT engines), XSLT 2.0 / 3.0 stylesheets and XPath 2.0 / 3.0 expressions that are included in the stylesheets (using Saxon 12.3 XSLT engine) and XQuery 1.0 / 3.0 (using Saxon 12.3 XQuery engine).
  • Stepping capabilities: step in, step over, step out, run, run to cursor, run to end, pause, stop.
  • Output to source mapping between every line of output and the instruction element / source context that generated it.
  • Breakpoints on both source and XSLT/XQuery documents.
  • Call stack on both source and XSLT/XQuery documents.
  • Trace history on both source and XSLT/XQuery documents.
  • Support for XPath expression evaluation during debugging.
  • Step into imported/included stylesheets as well as included source entities.
  • Available templates and hits count.
  • Variables view.
  • Dynamic output generation.

Resources

For even more information, watch our video demonstration: