--- name: "xmlto" section: "1" platform: "linux" package: "xmlto" version: "0.0.29-1" release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01" platforms: ["linux"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/xmlto" --- # xmlto(1) apply an XSL stylesheet to an XML document ## NAME xmlto - apply an XSL stylesheet to an XML document ## SYNOPSIS **xmlto** \[**-o** *output\_dir*\] \[**-x** *custom\_xsl*\] \[**-m** *xsl\_fragment*\] \[**-v**\] \[**-p** *postprocessor\_opts*\] \[**--extensions**\] \[**--searchpath** *path*\] \[**--skip-validation**\] \[**--stringparam** *paramname*=*paramvalue*\] \[**--noclean**\] \[**--noautosize**\] \[**--noextensions**\] \[**--profile**\] \[**--with-fop**\] \[**--with-dblatex**\] {*format*} {*file*} **xmlto** {\[--help\] \| \[--version\]} ## DESCRIPTION The purpose of **xmlto** is to convert an XML *file* to the desired *format* using whatever means necessary. This may involve two steps: 1\. The application of an appropriate XSL stylesheet using an XSL-T processor. 2\. Further processing with other tools. This step may not be necessary. To decide which stylesheet to use and what, if any, needs to be done to post-process the output, **xmlto** makes use of format scripts, which are simple shell scripts that **xmlto** calls during the conversion. The appropriate format script is selected based on the type of XML file and the desired output format. **xmlto** comes with some format scripts for converting DocBook XML files to a variety of formats. You may specify your own format script by using an absolute filename for *format* on the command line. Firstly, if **xmlto** has not been told explicitly which stylesheet to use (with the **-x** option), the format script will be called with **$1** set to stylesheet. The environment variable **XSLT\_PROCESSOR** contains the base name of the executable that will be used to perform the XSL-T transformation (for example xsltproc). The format script should write the name of the stylesheet to use to standard output and exit successfully, or exit with a non-zero return code if there is no appropriate stylesheet to use (for example, if the only available stylesheet is known not to work with the XSL-T processor that will be used). If nothing is written to standard output but the script exits successfully, no XSL-T transformation will be performed. Secondly, after an XSL-T processor has been run using the stylesheet, the format script will be called again, this time with **$1** set to post-process. The format script should perform any necessary steps to translate the XSL-T processed output into the desired output format, including copying the output to the desired output directory. For post-processing, the format script is run in a temporary directory containing just the processed output (whose name is stored in **XSLT\_PROCESSED** and whose basename is that of the original XML file with any filename extension replaced with .proc). **INPUT\_FILE** is set to the name of the original XML file, **OUTPUT\_DIR** is set to the name of the directory that the output (and only the output) must end up in, and **SEARCHPATH** is set to a colon-separate list of fallback directories in which to look for input (for images, for example). If this step is unsuccessful the format script should exit with a non-zero return code. ## OPTIONS - **-v** Be verbose (**-vv** for very verbose). - **-x** *stylesheet* Use *stylesheet* instead of asking the format script to choose one. - **-m** *fragment* Use the provided XSL *fragment* to modify the stylesheet. - **-o** *directory* Put output in the specified *directory* instead of the current working directory. - **-p** *postprocessor\_opts* Pass *postprocessor\_opts* to processing stages after stylesheet application (e.g. lynx or links when going through HTML to text, or xmltex when going from through TeX to DVI). If **-p** is specified a second time, the options specified will be passed to second-stage postprocessing; presently this is only applicable when going through xmltex and dvips to PostScript. - **--extensions** Turn on stylesheet extensions for the tool chain in use (*use.extensions* is turned on). The variables turned on are the ones used by Norman Walsh's DocBook XSL stylesheets. - **--searchpath** *path* Add the colon-separated list of directories in *path* as fallback directories for including input. - **--skip-validation** Skip the validation step that is normally performed. - **--stringparam** *paramname*=*paramvalue* Pass a named parameter *paramname* with value *paramvalue* to stylesheet from the command line. - **--noclean** Temporary files are not deleted(their names are shown and kept in tmp directory). It could help with analyzing problems. - **--noautosize** By default, some XSL variables are overridden by autodetection (*page.width* and *page.height* for paperconf (libpaper) use, *paper.type* for locale-based (**LC\_PAPER**) selection). With this option, **xmlto** doesn’t use this autodetection and user is able to modify defaults himself (either via default param.xsl modification or by user-defined XSL fragment). - **--noextensions** By default, **xmlto** enables XSL params *passivetex.extensions* for passivetex backend and *fop.extensions* and *fop1.extensions* for fop backend. This usually produces better results. If you for some reason don't want to use these parameters, just disable them using this option. - **--profile** Pre-process the XML document with the profiling stylesheet. - **--with-fop** Use fop for formatting. It is an experimental option, expects fop in specific location(detected at configured time), could be changed manually in **xmlto** script by modification of *FOP\_PATH* - **--with-dblatex** Use dblatex for formatting. It is an experimental option, expects dblatex in specific location(detected at configured time), could be changed manually in **xmlto** script by modification of *DBLATEX\_PATH* - **--help** Display a short usage message. It will describe xmlto's options, and the available output formats. - **--version** Display the version number of xmlto. ## ENVIRONMENT **XSLT\_PROCESSOR** Base name of the executable that will be used to perform the XSL-T transformation (default: [**xsltproc**(1)](/xsltproc/1.md)). **TMPDIR** Directory, where to create temporary stylesheets (default: /tmp). ## DIAGNOSTICS **0** Everything went fine. This is the expected exit code. **1** **xmlto** was called with insufficient arguments. **2** [**mktemp**(1)](/mktemp/1.md) failed to create a file/directory. Make sure /tmp or **TMPDIR** is writable. **3** **xmlto** failed to find some binary on configured location. Make sure that all required packages are installed and paths in xmlto script are set properly. **10+(Validation non-zero error code)** **xmlto** tried to validate a xml document, but validation failed. For better diagnostic, validation output and xmllint exit code is provided. Consider either fixing your document or using **--skip-validation**. ## EXAMPLES To convert a DocBook XML document to PDF, use: ``` xmlto pdf mydoc.xml ``` To convert a DocBook XML document to HTML and store the resulting HTML files in a separate directory use: ``` xmlto -o html-dir html mydoc.xml ``` To convert a DocBook XML document to a single HTML file use: ``` xmlto html-nochunks mydoc.xml ``` To modify the output using an XSL fragment use: ``` xmlto -m ulink.xsl pdf mydoc.xml ``` To specify which stylesheet to use (overriding the one that the format script would choose) use: ``` xmlto -x mystylesheet.xsl pdf mydoc.xml ``` ## AUTHORS **Tim Waugh** \ Original author, maintainer until 0.0.18 **Ondřej Vašík** \ Maintainer since 0.0.19 ## COPYRIGHT