Instructions for simple testing of citeproc-xsl with gestalt xslt processor

CSL Development
1

Hello,

I have for a long time been interested in using csl/citeproc-xsl for my web
app, but the dependency on Java/Saxon as XSLT2.0 processor has made it
impossible to use it in the targeted server environment. Now I have found
the stand-alone XSLT2.0 processor “Gestalt”
(http://gestalt.sourceforge.net/) and was able to compile it.

Now I want to test it on citeproc-xsl but don’t know where to start. I have
checked out the SVN tree. Is there a simple test I can run to see whether
the whole thing works?

I hope I didn’t miss something very obvious.

Thanks,

Christian–
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2

Hmm … someone else asked me about this earlier today. The xslt code
is way out of date.

Can you tell us more about your web app, and what you want to use CSL for in it?

Bruce

3

Bruce D’Arcus-3 wrote:

I have for a long time been interested in using csl/citeproc-xsl for my
web
app, but the dependency on Java/Saxon as XSLT2.0 processor has made it
impossible to use it in the targeted server environment. Now I have found
the stand-alone XSLT2.0 processor “Gestalt”
(http://gestalt.sourceforge.net/) and was able to compile it.

Now I want to test it on citeproc-xsl but don’t know where to start. I
have
checked out the SVN tree. Is there a simple test I can run to see whether
the whole thing works?

Hmm … someone else asked me about this earlier today. The xslt code
is way out of date.

Can you tell us more about your web app, and what you want to use CSL for
in it?

Bruce

Hi Bruce,

we’ve been in contact before, my app is http://www.bibliograph.org, a
mulit-user, ajaxy reference manager in php and javascript. I am currently
using OSBib to format references, but would really like to switch to CSL. I
have seen that there is also a python implementation now, so I could try to
call that from php to get the formatted references. Ideally, though, I would
like to use xslt - maybe one day php will support xslt2. So you say that the
current citeproc-xslt doesn’t work?

Cheers,

Christian

4

we’ve been in contact before, my app is http://www.bibliograph.org, a
mulit-user, ajaxy reference manager in php and javascript.

Ah right; hi Christian.

I am currently using OSBib to format references, but would really like to switch to CSL. I
have seen that there is also a python implementation now, so I could try to
call that from php to get the formatted references. Ideally, though, I would
like to use xslt - maybe one day php will support xslt2. So you say that the
current citeproc-xslt doesn’t work?

It works, but with an old version of CSL. I simply don’t have the time
to update the code.

Here’s my sense of where things are:

  1. the Zotero code, which is E4X; basically complete, but maybe not
    that easy to integrate into other contexts

  2. Frank Bennet’s rewrite of 1; will probably be faster and easier to
    extend, integrate elsewhere; about 40-50% done

  3. Andrea’s citeproc-hs; very, very fast (much faster than an XSLT
    process), and almost complete; but it’s Haskell (so may have hosting
    issues and such)

  4. Liam’s Ruby port; I have no clue how complete it is, but it was
    functional enough for him to release as a gem, and at least one
    project (BibApp) seems to be using it.

  5. Johan’s Python version; again, don’t know how complete it is, but
    I’d guess a little less than #4, and maybe a little more than #2?

  6. After a false start on trying to port Zotero’s code to PHP, Ron
    Jerome has made some progress on an OO-version for use in his Drupal
    biblio module. But it’s also not done (my vague guess is it’s probably
    about where #2 is; he can parse a CSL file, but not anything more ATM;
    still, that’s good).

All of which is to say, there’s no great off-the-shelf version ATM for
use in a PHP app. But you do have some options to try (and contribute
to if you have the time and inclination). If I had a hunch, #6 might
be a good option for you.

Bruce

5

Hello Bruce,

thank you for the detailed post with all the information. Seems like the
project is still in transition. Too bad you abandoned the xslt part of it -
but I know how it is when one is not a fulltime programmer paid to do this
kind of job. So I’ll wait a little longer to see wich of the sub-projects
will be finished first - I would be able to use python, javascript and php
and the Haskell port if it can be compiled to an executable binary for MacOS
and Linux.

Thanks for the work of everyone in the project! I am looking forward to when
we can concentrate on writing csl templates.

Christian

Bruce D’Arcus-3 wrote:>

6

…

I would be able to use python, javascript and php
and the Haskell port if it can be compiled to an executable binary for MacOS
and Linux.

Citeproc-hs can definitely be compiled on these platforms. If you want
to experiment on OS X, I’d suggest:

  1. install GHC using mac ports

  2. install cabal yourself

  3. install citeproc-hs by doing a simple “sudo cabal install citeproc-hs”

… and then probably also install pandoc with the citeproc option,
also using cabal.

Thanks for the work of everyone in the project! I am looking forward to when
we can concentrate on writing csl templates.

Well, the zotero repository currently has over a 1,000.

Bruce

7

Hi Bruce,

that sounds very promising. I’ll try it.

If this is successful, I think this should be documented somewhere on the
xbiblio website. Right now, it is very hard to find out what the state of
the project is by looking at the website.

I have always thought that this project has not received the broad attention
it deserves - why does every proprietary and open source bibliography
application need its own proprietary styling system when we could all work
on an open standard!

So if there was a way for users to just “download and start playing”, this
would certainly help to spread the word. Downloadable binaries for different
platforms would be immensely useful for a start, together with instructions
how to use them. If I succeed and find the time, I will write a tutorial
based on the hints you have provided. Maybe someone can also produce Windows
binaries - I don’t have a windows box.

Thanks,

Christian

Bruce D’Arcus-3 wrote:>

8

If this is successful, I think this should be documented somewhere on the
xbiblio website. Right now, it is very hard to find out what the state of
the project is by looking at the website.

Yeah, I know. Part of the problem is SF; there’s no wiki that makes it
easy to update content. I’ve periodically wondered if it might be
worth switching to, say, Google Code.

I have always thought that this project has not received the broad attention
it deserves - why does every proprietary and open source bibliography
application need its own proprietary styling system when we could all work
on an open standard!

True, but that’s changing. A number of new projects have, or are in
the process of adding, CSL support (bibapp, mendeley, and scholarz.net
is looking at it). I suppose it’d be nice to document that too :wink:

So if there was a way for users to just “download and start playing”, this
would certainly help to spread the word. Downloadable binaries for different
platforms would be immensely useful for a start, together with instructions
how to use them. If I succeed and find the time,

Sounds good. Of course, the easiest demo is Zotero.

Bruce