XSL-FO is an XML-based markup language which describe the formatting of XML data for output
to screen.
It stands for Extensible Stylesheet Language Formatting Objects
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
It is formally called XSL
Introduction
After several years of development Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) Version 1.0 became a W3C Recommendation
on October 15, 2001 . It enhance the
flexibility of the XML (Extensible Markup Language) standard.
XSL draws on earlier specifications including CSS and DSSSL.According to the W3C's XSL page, Extensible Stylesheet
Language (XSL) is a language for expressing stylesheets consisting of three
parts:
XSLT:
A language for transforming XML documents.
XSL-FO
(Extensible Stylesheet Language Formatting Objects; aka XSL-FO, XSL:FO or XSL FO)
An XML vocabulary for specifying formatting semantics.
XPATH: A syntax for addressing parts of a document, a syntax which is also
significant in XPointer and to the emerging XQuery, an XML query language.
Before continue XSL-FO part you should have a basic understanding of XML and XML Namespaces.
If you want to learn these topics first, please read our XML Tutorial
