xsl:apply-templates

Selects source nodes for processing.

Format

<xsl:apply-templates [select="pattern"][mode="qname"]>
               
  [<xsl:sort/>]
               
  [<xsl:with-param/>
               
</xsl:apply-templates>
               

            

Description

If you specify the select attribute, specify a pattern that resolves to a set of source nodes. For each source node in this set, the XSLT processor searches for a template that matches the node. When it finds a matching template, it instantiates it and uses the node as the context node. For example:

<xsl:apply-templates select="/bookstore/book">
               

            

When the XSLT processor executes this instruction, it constructs a list of all nodes that match the pattern in the select attribute. For each node in the list, the XSLT processor searches for the template whose match pattern best matches that node.

If you do not specify the select attribute, the XSLT processor uses the default pattern, "node()", which selects all child nodes of the current node.

If you specify the mode attribute, the selected nodes are matched only by templates with a matching mode attribute. The value of mode must be a qualified name or an asterisk ( *). If you specify an asterisk, it means continue the current mode, if any, of the current template.

If you do not specify a mode attribute, the selected nodes are matched only by templates that do not specify a mode attribute.

By default, the new list of source nodes is processed in document order. However, you can use the xsl:sort instruction to specify that the selected nodes are to be processed in a different order. See xsl:sort.

Tip

 

You can create an xsl:apply-templates element automatically using the XSLT mapper.

Example

In the previous example, the XSLT processor searches for a template that matches /bookstore/book. The following template is a match:

<xsl:template match="book">
               
  <tr>
               
   <td><xsl:value-of select="title"/></td>
               
   <td><xsl:value-of select="author"/><td>
               
   <td><xsl:value-of select="price"/><td>
               
  </tr>
               
</xsl:template>
               

            

The XSLT processor instantiates this template for each book element.

XML Spell Checker

The Stylus Studio Spell Checker is integrated with our intuitive XML Text Editor. It highlights typographical errors as you type and lets you easily search, replace, and build custom dictionaries.

Java XML Parser

Stylus Studio's support for Java XML Parser is able to Validate XML Using any Java XML Parser, Edit, Debug, Profile and Map XSLT using any Java XSLT Processor, Create PDF files Using Apache FOP, hand have Support for Microsoft XML Parsers as well.

XML-DEV Discussion Forum

XML-DEV is a leading technical forum for XML discussion and a valuable free XML learning resource. Subscribe to the XML-DEV email discussion forum today to help further your XML education.

XSL-List Blog

XSL-List is a discussion forum on the Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL), covering the XSL specification, XSL processors, tools, user questions, trends and more. Bookmark this RSS or ATOM feed now!

Stylus Most Wanted

 
Free Stylus Studio XML Training:
W3C Member