Re: Is this node, the document root... best test?

I want to test, when i'm in the ((match"*" template, mode="xyz"))
If, I've "drilled" my way back up to the "document element node"???

Do I have the correct test below? or do I need the:
".. and not(parent::*)"
or
"parent::node()"

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<foo>
 <bar>
   <world>technology</world>
 </bar>
 <baz>
   <hello>bonjour</hello>
 </baz>
</foo>

<xsl:template match="/">
 ...
 <xsl:apply-templates select="./*" mode="abc"/>
 ...
</xsl:template>

<xsl:template match="*" mode="abc">
 ...
 <xsl:apply-templates select="./*" mode="abc"/>
 ...
</xsl:template>

<xsl:template match="*" mode="xyz">
 ...
 <!--
   check if this node, is (in the above case "foo")...
   which if I'm understanding correctly, is the "document element node"???
   which test, should I use?
 -->
 <xsl:choose>
   <xsl:when test="not(parent::*)">
     <!--
       break, do whatever (I need to know when this
       condition occurs, regardless, of what the name
       of my tag "foo" is called.
     -->
     So, for my sample, printing
     [<xsl:value-of select="name(.)"/>]
     will print: [foo]
   </xsl:when>
   <xsl:otherwise>
     <!-- continue, process this node's parent -->
     <xsl:apply-templates select="parent::*" mode="xyz"/>
   </xsl:otherwise>
 </xsl:choose>
 ...
</xsl:template>

In a template, matching on "*", I need to test, if this node, is the document root node.

Start by getting your terminology right! By reverse engineering your
code, I think you are trying to test for the "outermost element": that
is, the element whose parent is a root node, in XPath 1.0 terminology.

<xsl:when test="not(parent::*)">
This works, but is it safe/efficient?

This is fine, except that it will match both the root node and the
outermost element node. If you want to match the outermost element
without matching the root, use

test=".. and not(parent::*)"

</xsl:when>
<!-- Method (2) -->
<xsl:when test="string(name(parent::*)) = ''">
This works, but is it safe/efficient?

This is clumsy. If parent::* selects anything, then it will select an
element, and name() applied to an element is always a non-empty string,
and string() applied to a non-empty string always gives you a non-empty
string, so the test is equivalent to test="not(parent::*)".

Michael Kay


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