Re: tough problem

Evg,

>I am trying to produce comma-separated list of text nodes
>from any XML using the following transform:
[snip]
>However I can't get rid of trailing comma. 
>I tried the 
>  <xsl:if test="position()!=1"> 
>test, however the position() is equal 1 more then once.

The position() is equal to 1 more than once because it is testing whether a
particular node is the first in the node-list that is currently being
looked at.  In the default case (where apply-templates moves on to the
children of the current node), the node list is just the children.  That
means that position() tells you whether the node is the first *child* of
its parent.  Of course, in a case like:

<p>Here is some <em>emphasised</em> text.</p>

The word 'emphasised' is the first child of its parent element (the 'em'
element), so it has position() = 1.  [Note it's also the last child of its
parent element, so last() would be true as well.]

So, I may be misunderstanding your problem, in which case it might help if
you gave a sample of the input (and desired output), but the secret is to
use the *descendant* axis rather than the default 'child' axis.

Either of the the following approaches works:

----

<!-- calling a named template to operate on the descendant text -->
<xsl:template match="top">
  <doc>
    <xsl:call-template name="listText"/>
  </doc>
</xsl:template>

<xsl:template name="listText">
  <xsl:for-each select="descendant::text()[normalize-space() != '']">
    <xsl:if test="position() != 1">
      <xsl:text>, </xsl:text>
    </xsl:if>
    <xsl:value-of select="normalize-space()" />
  </xsl:for-each>
</xsl:template>

---- OR ----

<!-- applying templates to descendant text -->
<xsl:template match="top">
  <doc>
    <xsl:apply-templates select="descendant::text()[normalize-space() !=
'']" />
  </doc>		
</xsl:template>

<xsl:template match="text()[normalize-space() != '']">
  <xsl:if test="position() != 1">
    <xsl:text>, </xsl:text>
  </xsl:if>
  <xsl:value-of select="normalize-space()" />
</xsl:template>

----

I hope this helps.

Cheers,

Jeni


Dr Jeni Tennison
Epistemics Ltd, Strelley Hall, Nottingham, NG8 6PE
Telephone 0115 9061301 ? Fax 0115 9061304 ? Email
jeni.tennison@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



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