Creating index using xsl

hi,

I am rather new to this list but I have tried to look for an answer to my
problem from the FAQ.
At least it seems I cannot use a variable in a for-each loop to compare with
the previous value.

I am looking into xslt to see how much I can use it to create some
genealogical reports and
it seems that formatting of the data might be ok and perhaps also creating
teh indexes.

I have a simple xml-file at http://www.kk-software.fi/kalle/xsl/koe.xml that
creates a simple
index of the data it contains by using
http://www.kk-software.fi/kalle/xsl/tables.xsl and
http://www.kk-software.fi/kalle/xsl/tables.css.

A transformed html file that contains also the table text
exists at http://www.kk-software.fi/kalle/xsl/table.html. The texsts are in
Finnish but have
no meaning. The index as it is created by the xsl is transformed also at
http://www.kk-software.fi/kalle/xsl/resu1.html. At
http://www.kk-software.fi/kalle/xsl/resu2.html
you can see how I would want teh index to look. Of course with real data
there would be more than
1 table but so far I have experimented only with one table.

Sorting in finnish/swedish order seems to be no problem but how to combine
the current name
element with the previous is. I have tried to use variables, I have tried to
get hold of previous-sibling
but not succeeded. Can anybody out there help me with this. Can I do what I
want with xslt??
Here is still a code-sniplet from the xsl-file:

       <xsl:for-each select="//name">
            <xsl:sort order="ascending" lang="fi" select="@sur"/>
            <xsl:sort order="ascending" lang="fi" select="@given"/>
               <TR>
                    <TD align="left">
<!-- here I should check if the name is equal to previous name
      if so then I would not create a new row but continue on previous
-->
                    <xsl:apply-templates/>


                   </TD><TD>
                         <xsl:value-of select="ancestor::table/@number" />


                    </TD>
               </TR>
          </xsl:for-each>



--
Kaarle Kaila
email: kaarle dot kaila at iki dot fi
www.iki.fi/kaila


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