ApacheFOP - Blank PDF Output ?

Question

I've been trying to transform my XML documents to PDF through Apache FOP, but the output pdf is blank.

Any help to why this is occuring is greatly appreciated.

The code seems to be executed without errors:

C:\Users\dfh\Desktop\fop-0.20.5>fop -xml DICENTIA_SDC_SN_1_224860.xml -xsl testx sl.xsl -pdf test2.pdf [INFO] Using org.apache.xerces.parsers.SAXParser as SAX2 Parser [INFO] FOP 0.20.5 [INFO] Using org.apache.xerces.parsers.SAXParser as SAX2 Parser [INFO] building formatting object tree [INFO] setting up fonts [INFO] Parsing of document complete, stopping renderer

XSL file (testxsl):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?> 
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:fo="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Format"&gt;
<xsl:template match="/">
<fo:root xmlns:fo="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Format"&gt;
<fo:layout-master-set>
<fo:simple-page-master master-name="simple" page-height="29.7cm" page-width="21cm" margin-top="1cm" margin-bottom="2cm" margin-left="2.5cm" margin-right="2.5cm">
  <fo:region-body margin-top="3cm" /> 
  <fo:region-before extent="3cm" /> 
  <fo:region-after extent="1.5cm" /> 
  </fo:simple-page-master>
  </fo:layout-master-set>
<fo:page-sequence master-reference="simple">
<fo:flow flow-name="xsl-region-body">
  <xsl:apply-templates select="SDC_SN_1/General" /> 
  </fo:flow>
  </fo:page-sequence>
  </fo:root>
  </xsl:template>
<xsl:template match="SDC_SN_1/General">
<fo:block>
  <xsl:apply-templates select="Document_No" />  
  </fo:block>
  </xsl:template>
<xsl:template match="SDC_SN_1/General/Document_No">
<fo:block font-size="12pt" font-family="sans-serif" line-height="15pt" space-after.optimum="3pt" text-align="justify">
  <xsl:value-of select="SDC_SN_1/General/Document_No" /> 
  </fo:block>
  </xsl:template>
  </xsl:stylesheet> 

The XML-file:

    <?xml version="1.0"?>
<?xml:stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="../xsl/SN_1.xsl" ?>
<SDC_SN_1>
    <General>
        <Our_Mail_Address></Our_Mail_Address>
        <Document_Number>850</Document_Number>
        <Sell_to_Customer Number="815">
            <Name></Name>
            <Additional_Name_Info></Additional_Name_Info>
            <Address></Address>
            <Additional_Address_Info></Additional_Address_Info>
            <City>Valby</City>
            <Contact_Person></Contact_Person>
            <Post_Code>2500</Post_Code>
            <County></County>
            <Country_Code>Danmark</Country_Code>
        </Sell_to_Customer>
        <Requisition>DOWNTOWN</Requisition>
        <Your_Reference>kristina</Your_Reference>
        <Our_Reference></Our_Reference>
        <Order_Date></Order_Date>
        <Document_Creation_Date>30/07-2010</Document_Creation_Date>
        <Salesperson>INT</Salesperson>
        <Order_Number></Order_Number>
        <Job_Number></Job_Number>
        <VAT_Registration_Number></VAT_Registration_Number>
        <INTRASTAT_Transaction_Type></INTRASTAT_Transaction_Type>
        <INTRASTAT_Transport_Method></INTRASTAT_Transport_Method>
        <Exit_Point></Exit_Point>
        <External_Document_Number></External_Document_Number>
        <Posting_Date></Posting_Date>
        <EU_Third_Party_Trade></EU_Third_Party_Trade>
        <Customer_Order_Number></Customer_Order_Number>
        <Customer_Order_Number2></Customer_Order_Number2>
    </General>
    <Invoicing>
        <Bill_to_Customer Number="">
            <Name></Name>
            <Additional_Name_Info></Additional_Name_Info>
            <Address></Address>
            <Additional_Address_Info></Additional_Address_Info>
            <City>Valby</City>
            <Contact_Person></Contact_Person>
            <Post_Code>2500</Post_Code>
            <County></County>
            <Country_Code>Danmark</Country_Code>
        </Bill_to_Customer>
        <Department></Department>
        <Project></Project>
    </Invoicing>
    <Shipping>
        <Ship_to_Customer>
            <Code></Code>
            <Name></Name>
            <Additional_Name_Info></Additional_Name_Info>
            <Address></Address>
            <Additional_Address_Info></Additional_Address_Info>
            <City>Haslev</City>
            <Contact_Person></Contact_Person>
            <Post_Code>4690</Post_Code>
            <County></County>
            <Country_Code>Danmark</Country_Code>
        </Ship_to_Customer>
        <Shipment_Date>30/07-2010</Shipment_Date>
        <Shipment_Date_Receive>02/08-2010</Shipment_Date_Receive>
        <Shipment_Time_Receive></Shipment_Time_Receive>
        <Shipment_Method></Shipment_Method>
        <Shipment_Condition>Freight, Carriage paid to</Shipment_Condition>
        <Location_in_Inventory></Location_in_Inventory>
        <Shipping_Agent></Shipping_Agent>
        <Package_Tracking_Number></Package_Tracking_Number>
        <Currency></Currency>
        <Shipment_From_Time></Shipment_From_Time>
        <Shipment_To_Time></Shipment_To_Time>
        <Shipment_Colli></Shipment_Colli>
        <Shipment_Net_Weight></Shipment_Net_Weight>
        <Shipment_Gross_Weight></Shipment_Gross_Weight>
    </Shipping>
    <Company_Info>
        <Company_Name></Company_Name>
        <Company_Additional_Name_Info></Company_Additional_Name_Info>
        <Company_Address></Company_Address>
        <Company_Address_Additional_Address_Info></Company_Address_Additional_Address_Info>
        <Company_City></Company_City>
        <Company_Phone_Number></Company_Phone_Number>
        <Company_Additional_Phone_Number></Company_Additional_Phone_Number>
        <Company_Telex_Number></Company_Telex_Number>
        <Company_Fax_Number></Company_Fax_Number>
        <Company_Giro_Number></Company_Giro_Number>
        <Company_Bank_Name></Company_Bank_Name>
        <Company_Bank_Branch_Number></Company_Bank_Branch_Number>
        <Company_Bank_Account_Number></Company_Bank_Account_Number>
        <Company_Payment_Routing_Number></Company_Payment_Routing_Number>
        <Company_VAT_Registration_Number></Company_VAT_Registration_Number>
        <Company_Registration_Number></Company_Registration_Number>
        <Company_Location_in_Inventory></Company_Location_in_Inventory>
        <Company_Post_Code></Company_Post_Code>
        <Company_County></Company_County>
        <Company_E_Mail></Company_E_Mail>
        <Company_Home_Page></Company_Home_Page>
    </Company_Info>
    <Line Line_Type="item">
        <Number></Number>
        <Catalog_Number></Catalog_Number>
        <Location_in_Inventory></Location_in_Inventory>
        <Shipment_Date></Shipment_Date>
        <Description></Description>
        <Additional_Description></Additional_Description>
        <Unit_of_Measure></Unit_of_Measure>
        <Ordered></Ordered>
        <Quantity></Quantity>
        <Back></Back>
        <Item_Gross_Weight></Item_Gross_Weight>
        <Item_Net_Weight></Item_Net_Weight>
        <Units_per_Parcel></Units_per_Parcel>
        <Unit_Volume></Unit_Volume>
        <Department></Department>
        <Project></Project>
        <Job_Number></Job_Number>
        <Item_Serial_Number></Item_Serial_Number>
        <Order_Number></Order_Number>
        <Order_Line_Number></Order_Line_Number>
        <INTRASTAT_Transaction_Type></INTRASTAT_Transaction_Type>
        <INTRASTAT_Transport_Method></INTRASTAT_Transport_Method>
        <Exit_Point></Exit_Point>
        <INTRASTAT_Area></INTRASTAT_Area>
        <Lot_Number></Lot_Number>
        <Item_Variant></Item_Variant>
        <Bin_Code></Bin_Code>
        <Unit_of_Measure_Code></Unit_of_Measure_Code>
        <Common_Item_Number></Common_Item_Number>
        <Customer_Item_Number></Customer_Item_Number>
        <Line_Note>
            <Note_Line></Note_Line>
        </Line_Note>
    </Line>
    </SDC_SN_1>

Answer 1

The main reason you're still getting a blank PDF is because your other templates are never getting applied. I made a couple of changes to your stylesheet (such as adding an identity transform, changing the select's, removing an unnecessary template and fixing the spelling of Document_Number) and I'm getting output on the PDF.

Modified version of your XSL:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?> 
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:fo="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Format"&gt;
  <xsl:output indent="yes"/>

  <xsl:template match="node()|@*">
    <xsl:apply-templates select="node()|@*"/>
  </xsl:template>

  <xsl:template match="SDC_SN_1">
    <fo:root xmlns:fo="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Format"&gt;
      <fo:layout-master-set>
        <fo:simple-page-master master-name="simple" page-height="29.7cm" page-width="21cm" margin-top="1cm" margin-bottom="2cm" margin-left="2.5cm" margin-right="2.5cm">
          <fo:region-body margin-top="3cm"/>
          <fo:region-before extent="3cm"/>
          <fo:region-after extent="1.5cm"/>
        </fo:simple-page-master>
      </fo:layout-master-set>
      <fo:page-sequence master-reference="simple">
        <fo:flow flow-name="xsl-region-body">
          <xsl:apply-templates select="General/Document_Number"/>
        </fo:flow>
      </fo:page-sequence>
    </fo:root>
  </xsl:template>

  <xsl:template match="Document_Number">
    <fo:block font-size="12pt" font-family="sans-serif" line-height="15pt" space-after.optimum="3pt" text-align="justify">
      <xsl:value-of select="."/>
    </fo:block>
  </xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

I also wrote a quick stylesheet that creates the "General" section and part of the "Shipping" section (based on your HTML output that was originally in the question). It uses a slightly different approach though.

My XSL:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="2.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:fo="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Format"&gt;
  <xsl:output indent="yes"/>
  <xsl:strip-space elements="*"/>

  <xsl:template match="node()|@*">
    <xsl:apply-templates select="node()|@*"/>
  </xsl:template>

  <xsl:template match="SDC_SN_1">
    <fo:root xmlns:fo="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Format"&gt;
      <fo:layout-master-set>
        <fo:simple-page-master master-name="my-page" page-width="8.5in" page-height="11in">
          <fo:region-body margin="1in" margin-top="1.5in"/>
        </fo:simple-page-master>
      </fo:layout-master-set>
      <fo:page-sequence master-reference="my-page">
        <fo:flow flow-name="xsl-region-body">
          <xsl:apply-templates/>
        </fo:flow>
      </fo:page-sequence>
    </fo:root>
  </xsl:template>

  <xsl:template match="General">
    <fo:block font-weight="bold" text-decoration="underline" margin-top=".25in">General</fo:block>
    <fo:table margin-top=".25in" margin-bottom=".25in">
      <!-- border-style="solid" border-width="1pt" -->
      <fo:table-column column-width="25%"/>
      <fo:table-column column-width="75%"/>
      <fo:table-body>
        <fo:table-row>
          <xsl:apply-templates select="Document_Number"/>
        </fo:table-row>
        <fo:table-row>
          <xsl:apply-templates select="Order_Number"/>
        </fo:table-row>
        <fo:table-row>
          <xsl:apply-templates select="Sell_to_Customer/Name"/>
        </fo:table-row>
        <fo:table-row>
          <xsl:apply-templates select="Customer_Order_Number"/>
        </fo:table-row>
        <fo:table-row>
          <xsl:apply-templates select="Customer_Order_Number2"/>
        </fo:table-row>
      </fo:table-body>
    </fo:table>
  </xsl:template>

  <xsl:template match="General/Document_Number">
    <fo:table-cell>
      <fo:block>Document Number</fo:block>
    </fo:table-cell>
    <fo:table-cell>
      <fo:block>: <xsl:value-of select="."/></fo:block>
    </fo:table-cell>
  </xsl:template>

  <xsl:template match="General/Order_Number">
    <fo:table-cell>
      <fo:block>Order Number</fo:block>
    </fo:table-cell>
    <fo:table-cell>
      <fo:block>: <xsl:value-of select="."/></fo:block>
    </fo:table-cell>
  </xsl:template>

  <xsl:template match="Sell_to_Customer/Name">
    <fo:table-cell>
      <fo:block>Name</fo:block>
    </fo:table-cell>
    <fo:table-cell>
      <fo:block>: <xsl:value-of select="."/></fo:block>
    </fo:table-cell>
  </xsl:template>

  <xsl:template match="General/Customer_Order_Number">
    <fo:table-cell>
      <fo:block>Customer Reference</fo:block>
    </fo:table-cell>
    <fo:table-cell>
      <fo:block>: <xsl:value-of select="."/></fo:block>
    </fo:table-cell>
  </xsl:template>

  <xsl:template match="General/Customer_Order_Number2">
    <fo:table-cell>
      <fo:block>Purchase Order</fo:block>
    </fo:table-cell>
    <fo:table-cell>
      <fo:block>: <xsl:value-of select="."/></fo:block>
    </fo:table-cell>
  </xsl:template>

  <xsl:template match="Shipping">
    <fo:block font-weight="bold" text-decoration="underline" margin-top=".25in">Shipping</fo:block>
    <fo:table margin-top=".25in" margin-bottom=".25in">
      <!-- border-style="solid" border-width="1pt" -->
      <fo:table-column column-width="25%"/>
      <fo:table-column column-width="75%"/>
      <fo:table-body>
        <fo:table-row>
          <xsl:apply-templates select="Ship_to_Customer/Name"/>
        </fo:table-row>
        <fo:table-row>
          <xsl:apply-templates select="Ship_to_Customer/Additional_Name_Info"/>
        </fo:table-row>
        <fo:table-row>
          <xsl:apply-templates select="Ship_to_Customer/Contact_Person"/>
        </fo:table-row>
        <fo:table-row>
          <xsl:apply-templates select="Ship_to_Customer/Address"/>
        </fo:table-row>
        <fo:table-row>
          <xsl:apply-templates select="Ship_to_Customer/Additional_Address_Info"/>
        </fo:table-row>
      </fo:table-body>
    </fo:table>
  </xsl:template>

  <xsl:template match="Ship_to_Customer/Name">
    <fo:table-cell>
      <fo:block>Name</fo:block>
    </fo:table-cell>
    <fo:table-cell>
      <fo:block>: <xsl:value-of select="."/></fo:block>
    </fo:table-cell>    
  </xsl:template>

  <xsl:template match="Ship_to_Customer/Additional_Name_Info">
    <fo:table-cell>
      <fo:block>Name 2</fo:block>
    </fo:table-cell>
    <fo:table-cell>
      <fo:block>: <xsl:value-of select="."/></fo:block>
    </fo:table-cell>    
  </xsl:template>

  <xsl:template match="Ship_to_Customer/Contact_Person">
    <fo:table-cell>
      <fo:block>Contact</fo:block>
    </fo:table-cell>
    <fo:table-cell>
      <fo:block>: <xsl:value-of select="."/></fo:block>
    </fo:table-cell>    
  </xsl:template>

  <xsl:template match="Ship_to_Customer/Address">
    <fo:table-cell>
      <fo:block>Address</fo:block>
    </fo:table-cell>
    <fo:table-cell>
      <fo:block>: <xsl:value-of select="."/></fo:block>
    </fo:table-cell>    
  </xsl:template>

  <xsl:template match="Ship_to_Customer/Additional_Address_Info">
    <fo:table-cell>
      <fo:block>Address 2</fo:block>
    </fo:table-cell>
    <fo:table-cell>
      <fo:block>: <xsl:value-of select="."/></fo:block>
    </fo:table-cell>    
  </xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

Let me know if you need any other help with your stylesheet or if you have questions about mine.