7. A system comprising: a database configured to store a first template document expressed in Rich Text Format (RTF), the first template document being created by a user; and a server computer in communication with the database and adapted to execute an RTF reader and an RTF parser, the server computer being configured to: read, using the RTF reader, a first portion of the first template document; dispatch, using the RTF reader, a first event to the RTF parser, the first event including a type and one or more attributes associated with the first portion; instantiate, using the RTF parser, a root data object based on the type and one or more attributes included in the first event, wherein the root data object includes a display method for outputting source code in Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL); read, using the RTF reader, a second portion of the first template document, wherein the second portion corresponds to a placeholder tag, a transformation tag, a block of static content, or a formatting attribute in the first template document; dispatch, using the RTF reader, a second event to the RTF parser, the second event including a type and one or more attributes associated with the second portion; instantiate, using the RTF parser, a child data object based on the type and one or more attributes included in the second event, wherein the child data object is instantiated as a child of the root data object in an object hierarchy, and wherein the child data object includes a display method for outputting source code in XSL; generate, using the RTF parser, a second template document expressed in XSL by invoking the display method included in the root data object and the display method included in the child data object; and combine the second template document with report data to generate a report.
12. The system of claim 7 , wherein invoking the display method included in the root data object causes the display method included in the child data object to be automatically invoked.