RE: Using keys when unique identifier is a multi node

Robert,

That is an excellent point.  I actually spoke with the developer who is
providing me with the XML on this.  That is something that will be accounted
for on the next iteration of our xml serialization.  Unfortunately, that
also means I will have to go back and fix the xsl.

-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Koberg [mailto:rob@xxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Saturday, March 27, 2004 10:35 AM
To: xsl-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re:  Using keys when unique identifier is a multi node value

Kenny Akridge wrote:

> I've looked at the FAQ and can't seem to find an exact answer.  I am
trying
> to generate all nodes who contain two specific children nodes.  I'm
thinking
> that using a key would be the best method, but it doesn't seem right to me
> to use multiple keys.
> 
> For instance, if I have:
> 
> <Attendance>
> 	<FirstName>Bill</FirstName>
> 	<LastName>Smith</LastName>
> 	... some other important data
> </Attendance>
> 
> Assuming FirstName + LastName is a unique identifier, how can I find all
> <Attendance> such that Attendance/LastName == LastName being processed and
> Attendance/FirstName == FirstName being processed?

I don't think you want to use first and last name as unique identifiers. 
  The chance of having two Bill Smiths is pretty high...

Why not just create a truly unique identifier and use that as your key/@use?

<Attendance id="a12345">
 > 	<FirstName>Bill</FirstName>
 > 	<LastName>Smith</LastName>
 > 	... some other important data
 > </Attendance>

best,
-Rob


> 
> Thanks