XSL-FO document structure

"Hello, World!"

Here is a traditional "Hello, World!" example in XSL-FO interpretation:

	<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
	<fo:root xmlns:fo="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Format">
		<fo:layout-master-set>
			<fo:simple-page-master master-name="my-first-page">
				<fo:region-body margin="15pt"/>
			</fo:simple-page-master>
		</fo:layout-master-set>
		<fo:page-sequence master-reference="my-first-page">
			<fo:flow flow-name="page-body">
				<fo:block>Hello, world!</fo:block>
			</fo:flow>
		</fo:page-sequence>
	</fo:root>

Explanations of XSL-FO document structure

1. Being and XML document XSL-FO document always starts with an XML declaration.

   	<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

2. The root element <fo:root> is an obligatiry attribute that declares XSL-FO namespace.

   	<fo:root xmlns:fo="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Format">

3. The <fo:layout-master-set> element defines page structure and contains one or more declarations of page master. A <fo:simple-page-master> element contains a page template each with its unique master-name. In the example, a simple-page-master is defined with only body area in it. Margins of the area are 15pt from all sides.

   	<fo:layout-master-set>
   		<fo:simple-page-master master-name="my-first-page">
   			<fo:region-body margin="15pt"/>
   		</fo:simple-page-master>
   	</fo:layout-master-set>

4. The <fo:page-sequence> element describe the page contents. The master-reference attribute selects page-master templates described in <fo:layout-master-set> element.

	<fo:page-sequence master-reference="my-first-page">

5. The <fo:flow> element is the container for document's text data. Flow name links to a region of the page defined in the <fo:simple-page-master>.

	<fo:flow flow-name="page-body">

6. The <fo:block> includes a paragraph of text.

	<fo:block>Hello, world!</fo:block>