What is an XML pipeline and why do I care?
XML pipelining is an approach to processing XML where the inputs and outputs of multiple processing steps (e.g., XSLT transformations) are connected together using a pipeline metaphor. Orbeon has implemented an XML pipeline engine in Java that executes a declarative XML pipelining language called XPL.”Programming” pipelines using declarative XML instead of writing procedural code results in a significant increase in productivity for tasks that require high volume or complex XML processing. XML documents enter a pipeline, are efficiently processed by one or more processors as specified by XPL instructions, and are then output for further processing, display, or storage. XPL features advanced capabilities such as document aggregation, conditionals (“if” conditions), loops, schema validation, caching, and sub-pipelines.XML pipelines are built up from smaller components called XML processors. An XML processor is a software component which consumes and produces XML documents. New XML proces
