A communiqué from Bob Schloss (IBM) reports on the availability of software to perform "high quality printing of XML documents using XSL stylesheets and the XSL-FO vocabulary, using the existing AFP (Advanced Function Printing) support for z/OS. The Infoprint XML Extender for z/OS enables XML applications to be printed on AFP printers using standard XSL formatting. AFP is the de facto standard solution for mission critical business output in many large enterprises. Producing an AFP document from XML data is a two-step process. First the XML document is transformed using an XSL style sheet into an intermediate XML document, referred to as an XSL Formatting Object (XSL-FO) document. The XSL-FO document is then composed by Infoprint XML Extender into an AFP document. Because of this two step process, Infoprint XML Extender can accommodate either XML documents with companion XSL style sheets or XSL-FO documents as input into the production of AFP, providing a highly flexible formatting solution for XML-based applications."

Highlights from the published description:

AFP support for native XML data formatted with XSL style sheets can help you to:

• Deploy XML-based data and content systems without worrying about their compatibility with existing output systems.
• Enjoy the benefits of both XML and AFP without having to create and maintain two separate data formats.
• Accelerate business transformation using XML by preserving and leveraging the existing AFP output system.
• Use standard Extensible Style Sheet Language (XSL) and XSL formatting objects (XSL-FO) to create highly flexible document formats.
• Choose between XML formatting with XSL, or with AFP page layouts, depending upon the type of XML data being processed, and the output requirements.
• Build a standards-based, integrated end-to-end application and output solution supported by IBM Software Services.