[XSL-LIST Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] RE: Axis order and variables
> > Consider the following XML > > <x n="1"> > <x n="2"> > <test/> > </x> > </x> > > and transform it via the following XSLT: > > <xsl:variable name="x" select="ancestor::x"/> > <xsl:value-of select="$x[1]/@n"/> > > What is the expected result? Is it "1" or "2"? It is "1". > > I failed to find a definite answer in W3C specs. The language used to specify this in the W3C XPath 1.0 spec is notoriously obscure. Section 2.4 states that a predicate filters a node-set with respect to an axis. The construct $x[1] is a FilterExpr, described in section 3.3. This states "The predicate filters the expression with respect to the child axis". The child axis is a forwards axis. Section 2.4 tells you that when a node-set is filtered with respect to a forwards axis, the proximity position of each node is its position in the sequence in forwards document order. $x[1] selects the node whose proximity position is 1, that is, the one that is first in document order. The mention of the "child axis" is a complete red herring here, it's just a device to ensure that $x is filtered in forwards document order. > > I have run into this question because the result of > MSXML 3.0 and Saxon differs from that of MSXML 4.0: > the former give "1", while the latter gives "2". > Who is right? Or they are both right? > It looks as if MSXML4 has a bug. Michael Kay XSL-List info and archive: http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list
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