2. Running XMLmind XSL Utility

2.1. System requirements

A Java™ 1.8+ runtime is required to run the XMLmind XSL Utility. Both Oracle Java and OpenJDK are officially supported.

XMLmind XSL Utility is officially supported is officially supported on Windows 7/8/10/11 (32-bit or 64-bit), on Linux and on macOS (Intel® or Apple® Silicon processor) 14.x (Sonoma) and on macOS 13.x (Ventura).

2.2. Installation

Simply unzip the distribution somewhere. Linux/macOS example:

~$ cd /opt
/opt$ unzip /tmp/xslutil-6_4_2.zip
/opt$ ls xslutil-6_4_2
addon/
bin/
doc/
legal.txt
legal/

This means that uninstalling XMLmind XSL Utility simply consists in deleting the directory created by unzipping its distribution.

2.3. Contents of the installation directory

addon/

Contains XMLmind XML Editor configurations (DITA 1.3, DocBook 4.x, DocBook 5.0, DocBook 5.1+, XHTML) and plug-ins (FOP, Batik, JEuclid, XEP, XFC).

bin/xslutil.exe, xslutil-c.bat

Executable file and .bat file used to run XMLmind XSL Utility on Windows. More information about xslutil-c.bat in Section 2.5, “XMLmind XSL Utility as a command-line tool”.

bin/xslutil

Shell script used to run XMLmind XSL Utility on the Mac and on Linux.

bin/*.jar

All the (non-system) Java™ class libraries needed to run XMLmind XSL Utility.

bin/icon/

Contains desktop icons for XMLmind XSL Utility.

doc/index.html

Points to copies of this online help in HTML, PDF, RTF, WordprocessingML, Office Open XML and OpenOffice formats.

legal.txt, legal/

Contains XMLmind XSL Utility licences as well as the licences and notices attached to the software components used to build XMLmind XSL Utility.

2.4. Starting XMLmind XSL Utility

XMLmind XSL Utility is intended to be used directly from the directory created by unzipping its distribution. That is, you can start XMLmind XSL Utility by typing the following command in a command prompt and then, by pressing Enter:

C:\> xslutil-6_4_2\bin\xslutil

After testing that it works, you may want to add a shortcut to C:\xslutil-6_4_2\bin\xslutil.exe on your desktop.

On the Mac and on Linux, please type the following command in a terminal, then press Enter:

/opt$ xslutil-6_4_2/bin/xslutil &
[Note]Running XMLmind XSL Utility on a computer having a very high resolution (HiDPI) screen

XMLmind XSL Utility works fine on computers having very high resolution (HiDPI) screens. For example, it works fine on a Mac having a Retina® screen and a Windows computer having an UHD (“4K”) screen.

However, on some Linux computers having HiDPI screens, HiDPI is not automatically detected. You'll have to specify the display scaling factor you prefer using the -putpref command-line option:

xslutil -putpref displayScaling 200

Preference key displayScaling may be used to globally change the size of all the items comprising the user interface of XMLmind XSL Utility. Its value is a percentage between 100 and 400 or integer -1 which means use system settings.

Note that using option -putpref updates the user preferences file. Therefore suffice to specify -putpref once and you are done.

[Note]FlatLAF as the default Look&Feel on Linux

On Linux, FlatLAF and its light theme (called "FlatLight") is now used as the default Look & Feel. This is needed because on Linux, the “system” Look & Feel (called "Metal") looks rather outdated.

If, for any reason, you prefer to use the “system” Look & Feel, please start xslutil by running

xslutil -putpref lookAndFeelClassName fallback

This setting is done once for all. If after doing that, you finally prefer to revert to FlatLaf, simply run

xslutil -delpref lookAndFeelClassName

2.5. XMLmind XSL Utility as a command-line tool

XMLmind XSL Utility may also be used a command-line tool.

  • Without any command-line arguments, XMLmind XSL Utility is a 100% graphical application.

  • If you pass it the following command-line arguments, XMLmind XSL Utility will perform the conversion without displaying its main window:

    xslutil conversion_specification_name input_xml_file output_file_or_directory

    Windows example corresponding to the figure below:

    C:\xslutil-6_4_2\bin> xslutil-c dbToDocx E:\tmp\help.xml E:\tmp\help.docx
    [Important]

    On Windows, make sure to use xslutil-c.bat and not xslutil.exe.

    Linux/Mac example:

    /opt/xslutil-6_4_2/bin$ xslutil dbToDocx /tmp/help.xml /tmp/help.docx

The basic idea here is to use the dialog box to add or edit conversion specifications and then to use the XMLmind XSL Utility command-line to actually perform the conversion. This way you get the best of both worlds.

See also Section 6.1, “The -p command-line option”.