Can XSLT execute a shell script at the OS level?

Question

I have a production flow that combines XSLT and some shell scripts in about 4 steps before it reaches completion. I execute each step manually at the moment.

I'm using Saxon 9 from the command line in Linux. Can I have the xsl's execute shell scripts.. instead of me?

(I know I could achieve the desired result in another way with Ant or Make.. but prefer to stay in XSLT if it is not a huge effort to do so)

Update: I've minimized my shell scripts and sped things up using Xproc. I'm not entirely satisfied with the result, but Xproc has improved life. Kai's suggestion below looks good.. but I have not tried it yet.

Not answering my own Q..just adding a bit of an epilogue 9 months later. XPROC turns out to fulfill the need I had above. — Paulb
– Paulb, Commented Dec 9, 2013 at 11:13

Andreas Lyngstad · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-03 15:19:00Z

6

I'm not Java savvy either, but I found with Michael Kay's tutorials on the Saxonica website it's doable.

Here's what I did and what's working well for me: In the root element of the XSLT stylesheet I assigned a namespace for the function (in my case I'm using it for unzipping, so I named the prefix unzip, but that could certainly be anything):

xmlns:unzip="java:java.lang.Runtime"

I am defining a variable with a file path for a batch file to be called later. Then I am using

<xsl:result-document href="{$batchFile}" method="text"> ... </result document>

to create the batch file. (Unzipping could be certainly done with just a command, but I found the batch file version more handy as I needed to combine the unzip-command with some change directory command and other little stuff. And furthermore using a batch file opens up a world of more elaborate tasks that could be called from the XSLT sheet.)

When I need my batch file be executed, I insert an xsl:message like this:

<xsl:message>Executing <xsl:value-of select="unzip:exec(unzip:getRuntime(),concat('cmd /c /y start ',$batchFile))"/></xsl:message>

Hope that helps, best regards, Kai

edited Apr 3, 2014 at 15:19

Andreas Lyngstad

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answered Apr 4, 2013 at 7:17

Kai Weber

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2 Comments

Paulb Over a year ago

Thank you. A creative solution. I'll keep this in mind for future projects.

n00b Over a year ago

is this possible with xalan-c++ as well? what would i use instead of java.lang.Runtime.exec()

Michael Kay · Accepted Answer · 2013-03-19 16:34:01Z

3

You can call java.lang.Runtime.exec() in the same way as any other external Java function.

answered Mar 19, 2013 at 16:34

Michael Kay

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2 Comments

Paulb Over a year ago

Is the answer. Not the one I wanted to hear, because I'm not Java savy. BTW, your XSLT 2.0 book has a prominent spot on my desk lately, I like it..thanks.

n00b Over a year ago

is this possible with xalan-c++ as well? what would i use instead of java.lang.Runtime.exec()

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