RE: convert an attribute's value to a text node?

> Hi, I am in the process of converting my heavy uses of Saxon 
> and it's extensions to more standard XSLT 2.0 + XPath 2.0 and 
> here is the one problem I have left:
> 
> I need to convert a string to a text-node. More specifically, 
> I need to convert the value of an attribute to a text-node, 
> because I have special templates that expect text-nodes.
> 
> In the old days I used:
> 
>     saxon:node-set(string(@att))
> 
> which would give me back a text-node.
> 
> Note that saxon's implementation of exsl:node-set would not 
> allow a string argument, but saxon:node-set would, and would 
> do exactly what I needed.

Actually (for the record), I don't think Saxon ever returned a text node
from this function. In Saxon 6.3 and 6.4 a string argument was rejected.
In Saxon 6.5 a string argument was accepted, but the result was a
document node that owned a text node whose value was the supplied
string.

The exslt common:node-set() function appears to have changed at some
stage and now specifies that with a string argument, the result should
be a text node. Saxon has never implemented this version of the EXSLT
specification (and I don't recall seeing any discussion of the change -
change control is not one of EXSLT's strong points).

The most portable way to get a text node from a string, if you really
want one, is

<xsl:variable name="tree">
   <xsl:value-of select="@att"/>
</xsl:variable>
... exslt:node-set($tree/text()) ...

But it does strike me as a somewhat odd way of doing things.

Michael Kay
Software AG
home: Michael.H.Kay@xxxxxxxxxxxx
work: Michael.Kay@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 


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