The materials found in the products listed below are the basis of hands-on training delivered publicly and privately by licensees around the world.

As of the end of 2014, Crane Softwrights no longer plans to develop or deliver training materials, or create revisions of any course or book that we have published. Please do not expect any revisions.

As of July 2017 all books are available as free publications and the DVD-ROM is no longer available (replaced by the streaming video with hands-on exercises). Please consider making a donation (from the right margin of this screen) if you find the books are useful.

1. Electronic books

1.1. Electronic format

The publications are only made available electronically in Adobe PDF

• click here to obtain the Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader for free
• click here to obtain the Ghostscript GSView PDF Reader for free

Special note regarding the hyperlinked PDF files: The 1-up versions of the books are bookmarked, extensively indexed and hyperlinked. Every page has hyperlinks into the index at the bottom center. Every page number in the index is hyperlinked into the body of the text. Links to external specifications bring up a browser window navigated to the section cited. These features make these books indispensable aids to navigating the external publications. All of the 2-up and half-sized versions are built for printing only and are not bookmarked or hyperlinked.

1.2. Titles

1.2.1. Practical Code List Implementation

(Using Controlled Vocabularies in XML Documents)
First Edition - ISBN 978-1-894049-22-1 - 2009-02-09
Book format downloads

This evolving guide to the specification and use of the OASIS genericode 1.0 and context/value association files walks the reader through the use of these components in the specification of code lists in the context of XML documents.

This is a superset of the handouts for the code list instructor-led training delivered by Crane.

1.2.2. Practical Formatting Using XSL-FO

Extensible Stylesheet Language Formatting Objects
Seventh Edition - ISBN 978-1-894049-19-1 - 2008-01-27
Book format downloads

This comprehensive guide to XSL Formatting Objects (XSL/XSL-FO) according to the XSL 20011015 1.0 and XSL 20061205 1.1 Recommendations is over 500 pages of explanatory material, diagrams, tables, and code samples. Every formatting object in XSL-FO is identified and described. The focus is primarily on the W3C work and not on vendor extensions.

This is a superset of the handouts for the instructor-led training delivered by Crane.

1.2.3. Practical Transformation Using XSLT and XPath

XSL Transformations and the XML Path Language
Fourteenth Edition - ISBN 978-1-894049-24-5 - 2011-02-11
Book format downloads

This comprehensive guide to XSL Transformations (XSLT) and the XML Path Language (XPath) according to the XSLT/XPath 19991116 1.0 and XSLT/XPath 20070123 2.0 Recommendations is almost 500 pages of explanatory material, diagrams, tables, and code samples. Every element, every attribute and every function in both XSLT and XPath is identified and described. The focus is on the W3C work and not on vendor extensions.

This is a superset of the handouts for the instructor-led training delivered by Crane.

1.2.4. Practical Universal Business Language Deployment

Third Edition - ISBN 978-1-894049-23-8 - 2009-02-12
Book format downloads

This guide to the specification and use of the OASIS Universal Business Language (UBL) walks the reader through all of the components of the UBL 2.0 specification. Key markup terms are defined and explained through examples. Methodologies for the specification of subset customizations of UBL for user communities is included.

This is a superset of the handouts for the UBL instructor-led training delivered by Crane.

2. Publishing formats

Purchasers have eleven different page formats to choose from (and all examples in the books are available in a ZIP file):

• A4 page size
  • full-page - single sided (????-a4.pdf) - bound
  • full-page - double sided (????-a4-dbl.pdf) - long edge duplex; bound
  • full-page - 2-up per page (????-a4-2up.pdf) - optional long or short edge duplex
  • half-page - single sided (????-a4-half.pdf) - cut, stacked, bound
  • half-page - double sided (????-a4-half-dbl.pdf) - short edge duplex, cut, stacked, bound
• US letter page size
  • full-page - single sided (????-us.pdf) - bound
  • full-page - double sided (????-us-dbl.pdf) - long edge duplex; bound
  • full-page - 2-up per page (????-us-2up.pdf) - optional long or short edge duplex
  • half-page - single sided (????-us-half.pdf) - cut, stacked, bound
  • half-page - double sided (????-us-half-dbl.pdf) - short edge duplex, cut, stacked, bound
• Monospaced screen-reader format
  • custom designed layout for the visually handicapped

Notes:

• PDF bookmarks and dynamic hyperlinks are only available in the full-page 1-up renditions
• "bound" versions have their margin adjusted for left edge hole punching or binding
• "cut, stacked" refers to the act of cutting the pages in half after being printed and stacking the left stack on top of the right stack before binding
• "short edge duplex" and "long edge duplex" refer to the orientation edge when printing double sided
• the printable renditions are produced with XSL-FO using RenderX, and the accessible version is produced with XSLT/XPath

3. Printed books

Electronic publications are not for everyone. Even with a ZIP file of samples, free updates, and the ability to search the PDF for information in the book, some people are just not oriented to reading electronic books. While some people do take our electronic materials and bind their own printed copies, others are only comfortable with a physical book in their hands.

3.1. Printed versions of Crane's materials

Please note any purchase of any paper book is independent of the policies and licenses of Crane's electronic books. These materials have been independently licensed by publishers for the printed medium and no electronic license of any kind is conferred to their customers through the purchase of a printed book.

3.1.1. Definitive XSLT and XPath

Definitive XSLT and XPath - Prentice Hall - ISBN 0-13-065196-6

Prentice Hall have made available a sample chapter in Adobe PDF for free download.

This book is derived from an edited version of the Ninth Edition of Practical Transformation Using XSLT and XPath (ISBN 1-894049-06-3).

Note that we believe this is the very first commercial paper book produced entirely with XML-related technologies, as the sources are all in XML and the camera-ready copy (this chapter is an example) was produced in Adobe PDF using XSLT/XPath and XSL-FO.

3.1.2. Definitive XSL-FO

Definitive XSL-FO - Prentice Hall - ISBN 0-13-140374-5

Prentice Hall have made available a sample chapter in Adobe PDF for free download.

This book is derived from an edited version of the Third Edition of Practical Formatting Using XSL-FO (ISBN 1-894049-10-1). This is also authored, produced and published using XML, XSLT, XPath and XSL-FO to create the camera-ready.