A taxonomy of transformation methods for structured documents

Summary form only given. We classify the methods and techniques that deal with the transformation of structured documents. We consider a particular type of transformation method, which applies to structured documents, where their hierarchical structures conform to a predefined data type definition. The efficiency of methods that carry out the transformation procedure remains a serious matter, as well as the complexity of the appropriate algorithms. The problem is becoming a critical issue in many growing areas such as data integration, electronic document interchange, and document-based editors. In spite of different research areas, we present the state of the art in transformation approaches. We classify the approaches and we explain for each approach its relevance, its behavior, and the framework of its application. We intend our classification to be useful when conceiving a new transformation paradigm for structured documents. We conclude with orientations and a new vision, which defines the main axis with the endeavour to solve the problem.