---
title: "How to run XSLT from Eclipse"
source: https://dev.pageseeder.com/get_started/tutorials/how_to_run_xslt_from_eclipse.html
last_updated: 2026-08-07T17:09:54+10:00
tokens: ~1296
---

# How to run XSLT from Eclipse

| Property | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Skills required | XML |
| Time required (minutes) | 15 |
| Intended audience | Developer |
| Difficulty | Easy |
| Category | Document |

## Objective

A programming language with the status of a [W3C Recommendation](https://www.w3.org/TR/xslt/), XSLT is primarily designed to process XML content. It is particularly well suited to transforming XML from one syntax to another. This could be to a different XML structure, such as XHTML or HTML. Or to a non-XML syntax, such as plain text or JSON. This tutorial shows how to use the Eclipse IDE to process an XSLT transformation.

## Prerequisites

To complete this tutorial requires:

- A computer with the **Eclipse IDE** installed – to simplify the setup, use the **Eclipse IDE for Java EE developers**, which includes packages for XML and XSLT editing. Download it from  [http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/](http://www.eclipse.org/downloads).
- The **Buildship** plugin installed on Eclipse – download this in Eclipse, via the **Eclipse Marketplace**.
- *Only Gradle v4.9 or earlier is supported in this tutorial –* configure this by editing the `gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties` and changing the version to `4.9`.
- The sample files for this tutorial are available on [GitHub](https://github.com/pageseeder/pageseeder-tutorials/tree/master/converting_xml_to_psml_with_xrefs)

## Tutorial

### Installing an XSLT processor

Running XSLT code requires an XSLT processor. The following steps will install the Saxon XSLT processor in Eclipse.

1. Create a new general project in Eclipse (e.g. `xslt-transform`).
2. In the project root, create a new file called `build.gradle`, and copy the code below into it.
3. Right-click on the project and select **Configure \> Add Gradle Nature**.

```java
buildscript {
  ext.data_folder = 'sample'
  ext.xslt_file = 'sample.xsl'
  ext.input_file = '/'
  ext.output_file = '/'
  ext.xslt_param1 = ''
  ext.xslt_param2 = ''
  ext.xslt_param3 = ''
  ext.saxon_version = '9.8.0-14'

  repositories {
    mavenCentral()
  }
  dependencies {
    classpath "net.sf.saxon:Saxon-HE:$saxon_version"
  }
}

apply plugin: 'java'

sourceCompatibility = 1.8

repositories {
  mavenCentral()
}

configurations {
  xslt
}

dependencies {
  xslt "net.sf.saxon:Saxon-HE:$saxon_version"
}

// Ensure we have an output dir
project.file("output/$data_folder").mkdirs()

// Transform using XSLT
task transform(group: 'xslt', type: JavaExec) {
  classpath = configurations.xslt
  main = 'net.sf.saxon.Transform'
  inputs.dir  'input/$data_folder'
  inputs.file  'src/main/xslt/$xslt_file'
  args(
      "-s:input/$data_folder$input_file",
      "-xsl:src/main/xslt/$xslt_file",
      "-o:output/$data_folder$output_file",
      "$xslt_param1",
      "$xslt_param2",
      "$xslt_param3"
  )
}

// Rename output files
task rename(group: 'xslt', type: Copy) {
    from "output/$data_folder"
    into "rename/$data_folder"

    rename '(.*)\\.xml', '$1.psml'
}
```

### Run the XSLT code

1. Create a project data folder (e.g. `input/films`) and copy the input XML files (`*.xml`) to it.
2. Create a project code folder (e.g.`src/main/xslt`) and copy the XSLT code file (`films.xsl`) to it.
3. Modify the `build.gradle`file so the `ext.data_folder` and`ext.xslt_file` match the above, for example:
ext.data\_folder = 'films'
ext.xslt\_file = 'films.xsl'


4. In the right hand Eclipse panel, click on the **Gradle Tasks** tab to expand the project, then click on **xslt \> transform** to process the XML files from the`input/[data folder]`to the`output/[data folder]`.
5. In the left hand Eclipse panel, select the project and refresh the folders by pressing **F5**. Open the files under `output/[data folder]` to check the content.

> **Note:** - To transform a single file from the input folder, edit `ext.input_file`  and `ext.output_file` with the desired filenames. For example: ext.input\_file = '/myinput.xml' ext.output\_file = '/myoutput.xml' - To set parameters on the XSLT transform, edit `ext.xslt_param[N]` with the desired values. For example: ext.xslt\_param1 = 'output-base=.' ext.xslt\_param2 = 'filename=word export' ext.xslt\_param3 = 'split=true'  Add additional parameters to the `task transform()` code. For a full list of valid `args()` see [http://www.saxonica.com/documentation/#!using-xsl/commandline](http://www.saxonica.com/documentation#!using-xsl/commandline) . - When using the `document()` function in XSLT, the path will be relative to the `src/main/xslt` folder.  To reference XML files, put them in this folder, or point to the input folder by using '`..`' in the path e.g. `document('../../../input/sample/sample.xml')`

### Rename the output files to `.psml` (optional)

If the output files have a `.xml` extension but use the PSML format for upload to PageSeeder, use the following to change the extension to `.psml`:

1. In the right hand Eclipse panel, select the **Gradle Tasks** tab, expand the project and click on **xslt \> rename**.
2. In the left hand Eclipse panel, select the project and refresh the folders by pressing **F5**. Open the files under `rename/[data folder]` to check the content.