Tutorial Addendum On XML Technologies - XSL - Accepting Ethics Out Of Antecedent Elements

Openning dictionary_xsl.xml with Internet Explorer, I got:

    

 

    
  dictionary

    
  

    
   word

    
    |-acronym=true

    
    |-symbol=

    
    name

    
     XML

    
    definition

    
     adaptable Markup 

    
Language.

    
    date

    
     |-acronym=2002-12-23

    
   word

    
    |-acronym=

    
    |-symbol=true

    
    name

    
     <

    
    definition

    
     Algebraic attribute apery the "less than" analytic 

    
operation, like: 1<2.

    
    definition

    
     Aloof attribute in XML apery the alpha of 

    
tags, like: <p>Hello world!</p> 

    

Note that:

    

    
• The band break in argument capacity of antecedent aspect were maintained by the "value-of"
  
      

  statement.



    
• The entities, like <, in argument agreeable of antecedent aspect were aswell maintained by
  
      

  the "value-of" statement. They were presented by IE with their values, like <.



    
• The animadversion in the antecedent book was ignored. But the hotlink breach that starts the comment
  
      

  line was maintained. This is why I got a bare band beneath "dictionary".



    
• The "value-of" statements on amorphous attributes alternate abandoned strings.


    

The for-each Element

    

The XSL account we accept abstruse so far are all adjoin an aspect (or elements if

    

they accept the aforementioned name) with a specific name, or an aspect with a specific name.

    

Now, let s apprentice how to plan with a accumulation of elements or attributes.

    

for-each: An XSL element, confined as a bend statement. It loops through a accumulation of

    

elements or attributes in the XML antecedent book that matches a defined criteria,

    

and exectues the amid

    

XSL statements at anniversary iteration. Let s attending at three simple syntax formats of the "for-each"

    

statement first:

    

    
<xsl:for-each select="child_element_name">

    
 XSL statements

    
</xsl:for-each>

    
<xsl:for-each select="*"/>

    
 XSL statements

    
</xsl:for-each>

    
<xsl:for-each select="@*"/>

    
 XSL statements

    
</xsl:for-each>

    

where the "select" aspect defines the accumulation of antecedent elements or attributes, and

    

the amount of this attributes specifies which elements or attributes are in this group:

    

"child_element_name" specifies all adolescent elements with this name, "*" specifies

    

all adolescent elements, and "@*" specifies all attributes.

    

The afterward XSL functions can aswell be acclimated with the "select" attribute:

    

    
<xsl:for-each select="node()"/>

    
 XSL statements

    
</xsl:for-each>

    
<xsl:for-each select="text()"/>

    
 XSL statements

    
</xsl:for-each>

    
<xsl:for-each select="comment()"/>

    
 XSL statements

    
</xsl:for-each>

    

where "node()" matches any adolescent nodes, including aspect nodes, argument nodes, and animadversion nodes,

    

"text()" matches any adolescent argument nodes, and "comment()" matches any adolescent animadversion nodes.

    

Once we accept the accumulation authentic for the loop, we charge to understand how to admission certain

    

information about this loop, like the absolute amount of iterations. We aswell charge to know

    

who is the accepted aspect or aspect at the accepted iteration. Actuality are some

    

XSL expressions and functions that are actual advantageous aural an XSL loop:

    

    
• "count()": Allotment an accumulation apery the absolute amount of iterations.


    
• "position()": Allotment an accumulation apery the position of the accepted element
  
      

  or attribute.



    
• ".": Apery the aspect or attribut of the accepted iteration.


    
• "name()": Allotment the name of the aspect or attribut of the accepted iteration.


    

Now we are accessible to do added circuitous tests to see the ability of XSL. Let s alter our

    

dictionary.xsl:

    

 

    
<?xml version="1.0"?>

    
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"

    
   xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">

    
<!-- dictionary.xsl, adaptation 2.0

    
     Absorb (c) 2002 by Dr.  Yang

    
-->

    
 <xsl:template match="dictionary">

    
  <pre>

    
d_dictionary

    
  <xsl:for-each select="word">

    
w__<xsl:value-of select="name()"/>

    
   <xsl:apply-templates select="."/>

    
  </xsl:for-each>

    
  </pre>

    
 </xsl:template>

    
 <xsl:template match="word">

    
  <xsl:for-each select="@*">

    
a___<xsl:value-of select="name(.)"/>=<xsl:value-of select="."/>

    
  </xsl:for-each>

    
  <xsl:for-each select="*">

    
e___<xsl:value-of select="name()"/>

    
   <xsl:apply-templates select="."/>

    
  </xsl:for-each>

    
 </xsl:template>

    
 <xsl:template match="name">

    
  <xsl:for-each select="text()">

    
t____<xsl:value-of select="."/>

    
  </xsl:for-each>

    
 </xsl:template>

    
 <xsl:template match="definition">

    
  <xsl:for-each select="text()">

    
t____<xsl:value-of select="."/>

    
  </xsl:for-each>

    
 </xsl:template>

    
 <xsl:template match="update">

    
  <xsl:for-each select="@*">

    
a____<xsl:value-of select="name(.)"/>=<xsl:value-of select="."/>

    
  </xsl:for-each>

    
 </xsl:template>