Generic XML display and query client

With this XPath demo page it is possible to:

• change style and make queries without reloading the page from server, so you can continue experimenting with queries when off-line (this is one of the advantages of XML),
• display the Implicit Schema (that is, the arborescence of elements and sub-elements) present in the data,
• make queries; try these:
• //Leaves    ==> displays only Leaves and sub-elements in all species
• //Leaves[//char = 'opposite']     ==> displays only Leaves and sub-elements having a char (character) sub-element being  'opposite'
• //species[Herbs]//Inflorescences    ==> in the species being Herbs, displays only Inflorescences sub-element
• species [ Shrubs ]
• //species [ Corolla/lobes/char [ contains(. , '4')]]
• //Branches[contains(char,'gray')]
• /descendant::species[child::Petiole/ child::char [ contains( ., 'glabrous')] ]
• generate XSLT queries with a quite generic GUI, taking in account the actual content of the XML data
  

• it works with both Mozilla > 1.2, Netscape 7 and Internet Explorer 6
• with Internet Explorer < 6, IT WORKS ONLY with the patch compliant with the XSLT and XPath W3C Recommandations, downloadable at Microsoft (look for MSXML). If you download and install (just execute it ounce) the MSXML file, you will be able to use the whole range of the specification of query expressions (XPath). The XPath W3C Recommandations is at http://www.w3.org/TR/xpath.html . A nice XPath tutorial is at http://www.zvon.org
• This page is actually generic, you can enter any file or URL in the "XML data file" field; moreover you can use as an URL, with your own data, like a server-side implementation, e.g.:
  
http://wwbota.free.fr/Generic/XMLClient.htm?URL=http://www.mycom.com/mydata.xml&xpath=//myElement
Try these URL's, which were taken from http://www.xmltree.com : 
http://wwbota.free.fr/Generic/XMLClient.htm?URL=http://www.wired.com/news_drop/netcenter/netcenter.rdf
At least you could use it if you know how to bypass the security feature of Mozilla that forbids accessing URL's from other sites than the one where the script is coming from. Saying in the Javascript:
netscape.security.PrivilegeManager.enablePrivilege("UniversalBrowserRead");
doesn't work.

• The Diospyros descriptions are coming straight from FloraParse out of the Flora of China.
• The table view and the "classic" view are not generic, but IE5 view is; that is, you can enter any XML URL, and no information will be lost.
• Note how the "Implicit Schema" button gathers all features present in all species. It is meant as a help to write XPath queries. Of course the next stage is to write some code to write XPath queries in the user's place.

/a[constraint1]/b[constraint2]    |    <same thing>

is associated to pull-down menus:
- / or // or . or verbose axis
- b or other possible tags at same depth level
- for adding constraints a button inserts a GUI of the same kind as the entry general query GUI, since a constraint's syntax  is the same as a general XPath string.

POSSIBLE DEVELOPMENTS:

• for a more ambitious architecture implying cooperation beetwen browser and server, see specification for an application realizing a Specimen identification
• use Apache.org's Xalan applet as XSLT engine; this will avoid use of a proprietary browser technology