RE: boolean attribute values

As far as I can tell, I got contradictory responses to my earlier question.
Can someone explain this all to me?

>From Mike Kay
>>Yes, an attribute set to "false" will be true.
>
>Be careful, though: an attribute value is not a string, it is a nodeset.
>Testing xsl:if test="@att" will return true if the attribute has any value,
>including a zero length string, because the nodeset is converted to a
>boolean without going via a string, and is true if the nodeset is non-empty.
>
>Mike Kay

>From David Carlisle
>if the attribute is being read as a string yes, but in an attribute
>being read as an xpath/xslt expression there is a difference between
>select="true" and
>select="'true'"
>the former being the logical true and the second being the string of
>'true'.
>
>so <xsl:if test="false"> will take the false branch, but
><xsl:if test="'false'"> will take the true branch
>
>David


Really, all I'm asking is, I want something to happen when a certain
attribute is set to true (and something to happen when it is set to false).
Do I have to explicitly test to see if the string is true, and explicitly
test if it is false, or can I save myslef a step?  I'm wondering for both
the "select" case and the "if" case.

thanks, Imran Rashid


-------------------------
Imran Rashid
Wolfram Research Inc.
www.wolfram.com



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