SaxonJS 3.0 is a major update to the SaxonJS product. In December 2024, it is +being published as a preview release, version 3.0.0-beta1. This is a preview +release of the SaxonJS 3.0 HE (Home Edition) product. An EE (Enterprise Edition) +product is in the works. +
+ +This release includes a number of new features, with several more planned +before the final 3.0 release. +
+ +SaxonJS 3 introduces new mechanisms for enabling asynchronous processing
+using promises. A new instruction ixsl:promise is introduced which
+can be used as a replacement for the existing ixsl:schedule-action
+instruction.
+
Note that for Node.js, run time use of ixsl:promise is an EE feature. So XSLT
+stylesheets using ixsl:promise can be compiled to SEF with the XX
+compiler in SaxonJS without a JS-EE license, and then run in the browser; but to
+run such a stylesheet on Node.js requires SaxonJS-EE and a valid JS-EE license.
+
JavaScript developers have easy access to a huge variety of tools and
+libraries distributed as JavaScript packages through npm and other
+mechanisms. We want to make those libraries easily accessible for SaxonJS
+developers too.
+
In SaxonJS 3, you can define extension functions in JavaScript and call them
+directly from XPath, both from SaxonJS.XPath.evaluate and from
+within XSLT stylesheets running on SaxonJS in the browser or on Node.js.
+
This opens up whole new horizons for SaxonJS developers. +
+While a lot of our focus has been on larger improvements, a few less dramatic +features are also debuting in beta1. +
+ +xsl:result-documentxsl:result-document: ixsl:replace-element, ixsl:insert-before, and
+ixsl:insert-afterixsl:set-property, ixsl:json-parse,
+ixsl:new, ixsl:apply, ixsl:call, ixsl:eval, and ixsl:getescape-solidus option when generating JSON.Eager to publish a release, at this stage, we’ve opted only to publish the HE +version of SaxonJS 3.0 as beta1. More work is planned before the general +release, including SaxonJS 3.0 EE. +
+ +SaxonJS-HE will remain a free product, but in 2025 we will also be introducing a +licensed version of SaxonJS, SaxonJS-EE. The licensed version will provide additional +features on Node.js (such as built-in EXPath and Saxon extension functions). +
+ +The promises API run time will be a licensed feature on Node.js. +
+Many transformations, on XML and JSON, are easier to define in XSLT than in +JavaScript. XSLT has a rich vocabulary of instructions for describing, constructing, +and transforming data in a clear, descriptive, and functional way. +
+ +We anticipate making those features more accessible to JavaScript developers by +allowing JavaScript to call functions defined in XSLT. +
+The ability to construct an XSLT stylesheet and then compile it directly for
+use in the current transformation is a powerful feature. A new API for doing this,
+SaxonJS.compile, will be added in the general release.
+
You can try out SaxonJS-HE 3.0 today, the packages have been uploaded to +npmjs.com: +saxonjs-he +and +xslt3-he. You can also +download them our website.
+ +Our documentation +pages have been updated and a repository of short examples has been +published: SaxonJS3 +demo.
+ +We hope you’re as excited as we are and we look forward to your feedback. Please +report any issues that you encounter on +our issue tracker. +
+ +