Re: Empty String

Greg,

<xsl:template match="String">
  <!-- matches elements named 'String' -->
  <xsl:apply-templates/>
  <!-- processes the children of the element -
       - text, other elements, whatever -->
  <xsl:if test="not(string(.))">
    <!-- passes the test if the string content is empty -->
    <xsl:value-of select="'&#xA;'"/>
    <!-- adds a linefeed character -->
  </xsl:if>
</xsl:template>

Other tests are possible, but this one is a good one. Note that this will test "true" if your String element contains other elements, but no text.

If you want to catch whitespace-only strings as well as zero-length strings, change the test to "not(normalize-space(.))". But note that such whitespace is also passed along by the apply-templates preceding the test.

I hope I construed correctly what you meant by "a String element that is empty".

This is actually a FAQ, but a hard one to document since the answer is always "it depends".

Hasta la vista,
Wendell

At 04:04 PM 10/23/01, you wrote:

How do i say this using xsl: "xsl, if you find a String element that is empty, please add a text element that contains a paragraph return." I am having trouble matching the empty string.

--
Thanks Muchos,

Greg Martel
Coordinator of Enchiladas

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XSL-List info and archive: http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list

--
Thanks Muchos,

Greg Martel
Coordinator of Enchiladas