FlexDoc/XML - Generator

About Template Processor / Generator
This is the most important and sophisticated part of the whole FlexDoc/XML system. It takes on input:
  1. The specified XML files, which constitute the data source.
  2. The main template (the entry point of the template set).
  3. The XML Type associated with the template set. It provides the structure / data type information about the input XML files.
  4. XML catalogs that are used to resolve XML file references.
The template components and their properties are used as instructions to simultaneously
  • Retrieve and iterate the data found in the input XML files (elements and attributes). On the way, it may also load more XML files referenced from those being processed.
  • Generate the output documentation according to and with this data.
So, the Template Processor serves as both the template interpreter and the output generator at the same time. However, its generic part is extended into several implementations targeted for different output format. Which particular output format will be used is specified in the settings.

Together the template interpreter and all output generators represent a single functional unit, which is also called “FlexDoc/XML Generator” (or simply generator). It is run from the Java command line as a separate Java application and controlled by lots of options.

Alternatively, most of these settings can be specified in a Generator GUI interactively.

Further details about running the generator are broken into several pages according to the following table of contents: