Miscellaneous Extension Functions
There are several ready-made functions in programming languages such as Java and C# that are not available as XQuery/XPath functions or as XSLT functions. A good example would be the math functions available in Java, such as sin() and cos(). If these functions were available to the designers of XSLT stylesheets and XQuery queries, it would increase the application area of stylesheets and queries and greatly simplify the tasks of stylesheet creators. The XSLT and XQuery engines used in a number of Altova products support the use of extension functions in Java and .NET, as well as MSXSL scripts for XSLT. This section describes how to use extension functions and MSXSL scripts in your XSLT stylesheets and XQuery documents. The available extension functions are organized into the following sections:
The two main issues considered in the descriptions are: (i) how functions in the respective libraries are called; and (ii) what rules are followed for converting arguments in a function call to the required input format of the function, and what rules are followed for the return conversion (function result to XSLT/XQuery data object).
Requirements
For extension functions support, a Java Runtime Environment (for access to Java functions) and .NET Framework 2.0 (minimum, for access to .NET functions) must be installed on the machine running the XSLT transformation or XQuery execution, or must be accessible for the transformations.