CODEWITHSUNDEEP
xsltsaxon
user663031
user663031

Reputation:

Best practices for server-side architecture for an XSLT-based client application

I'm considering using Saxon CE for a web application to edit ebooks (metadata and content). It seems like a good match given that important ebook components (such as content.opf) are natively XML. I understand how to grab XML data from the server, transform it, insert the results into the HTML DOM, and handle events to change what and how is displayed.

Where I am getting stuck is how best to sync changes back up to the server. Is it best practice to use an XML database on the server? Is it reasonable to maintain XML on the server as text files, and overwrite them with a post, and could/should this be done through a result-document with a remote URI?

I realize this question may seem a bit open-ended, but I've failed to find any examples of client-side XSLT applications which actually allow the modification of data on the server.

Upvotes: 2

Views: 215

Answers (1)

Michael Kay
Michael Kay

Reputation: 163468

Actually, I don't think this question is specific to using Saxon-CE on the client. The issues would be exactly the same if you were using XForms, or indeed if the client-side code were written in Javascript. And I think the answer depends on volumetrics, availability and concurrency requirements, and so on.

If you're doing a serious level of concurrent update of a shared collection of XML data, then using an XML database is probably a good idea. On the other hand there might be scenarios where this isn't needed, for example where the XML data is part of the user-specific application context, or where the XML document received from the client simply needs to be saved somewhere "as is", or perhaps where it just needs to be appended to a some kind of XML log file.

I think that in nearly all cases, you'll need a server-side component to the application that responds to HTTP put/post requests and decides what to do with them.

Upvotes: 1

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