Proposal: Copying with Sorting

I would like to propose a simplification of the most widely used case
of sorting, when a the members of a node-set are simply copied in a
different order.

The proposal is to allow xsl:sort to be a child of xsl:copy-of.

Thus instead of writing [1]:

<xsl:for-each select="expression"> 
  <xsl:sort select="expression2"/> 
  <xsl:copy-of select="."/> 
</xsl:for-each> 


one would simply write [2]:

<xsl:copy-of select="expression">
  <xsl:sort select="expression2"/> 
</xsl:copy-of> 


What are the advantages of having [2]?

1. The new instruction is more compact and simpler.

2. It reflects the principle that it should be possible to do simple 
   things in a simple way.

3. Shorter, simpler, more readable and maintainable xslt code.

4. Probably allows a more efficient implementation.

5. The programmer will not have to worry whether to use (gasp!) an 
   xsl:for-each or an xsl:apply-templates with or without mode.

6. Eliminates the vast number of programming errors, when the 
   programmer simply forgets to specify  <xsl:copy-of select="."/>  in 
   [1]


A further simplification will be achieved if a "sort" attibute is
allowed in case of sorting on a single key only. 

Then we could write [3]:

<xsl:copy-of select="expression" sort="expression2" />


I would appreciate receiving any comments on this proposal. Would you
like to have this feature proposed for inclusion in XSLT 2.0?




=====
Cheers,

Dimitre Novatchev.
http://fxsl.sourceforge.net/ -- the home of FXSL

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