Re: Fun with xsl:number and a key

Play the video

Subject: Re: Fun with xsl:number and a key
From: Wendell Piez <wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 14 Oct 2004 18:25:24 -0400

Hi Jay,

You're asking the right questions....

At 01:55 PM 10/14/2004, you wrote:

My question is this: Why does the following bit not generate a multi-level
number?
      <xsl:for-each select="key('refentries', .)">
        <xsl:number level="multiple"/>
      </xsl:for-each>

Personally, I speculate that the cause is the nature of the key, which
matches an attribute and then uses . If I understand correctly, this key
holds the text of the attribute, which ditches the context information.

No, it returns the node, in this case a @title attribute.

Why xsl:number is doing what it's doing, I can't exactly say without digging into the spec (http://www.w3.org/TR/xslt#number) and testing. My guess, however, is that you're running into a clash between how you're using level="multiple" and the default on the 'count' attribute (okay now I'm in the spec):

'When level="multiple", it constructs a list of all ancestors of the current node in document order followed by the element itself; ***it then selects from the list those nodes that match the count pattern***; it then maps each node in the list to one plus the number of preceding siblings of that node that match the count pattern. If the from attribute is specified, then the only ancestors that are searched are those that are descendants of the nearest ancestor that matches the from pattern. Preceding siblings has the same meaning here as with the preceding-sibling axis.'

Your count pattern being "@title" (it has defaulted to the name and node type of the current node), xsl:number does not count the chapter it's inside of. And since attributes have no preceding siblings, you always get 1.

One way to go would be to say <xsl:number level="multiple" count="chapter"/>, but even better would be to set up your key differently --

<xsl:key name="refentries" match="chapter" use="@title"/>

or even

<xsl:key name="refentries" match="*[@title]" use="@title"/>

since with either of these, you'd get the actual chapter, not its @title attribute, back from the key() function, and would be counting chapters not their @title attributes.

Cheers,
Wendell


======================================================================
Wendell Piez                            mailto:wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mulberry Technologies, Inc.                http://www.mulberrytech.com
17 West Jefferson Street                    Direct Phone: 301/315-9635
Suite 207                                          Phone: 301/315-9631
Rockville, MD  20850                                 Fax: 301/315-8285
----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Mulberry Technologies: A Consultancy Specializing in SGML and XML
======================================================================

Current Thread
Fun with xsl:number and a key JBryant - Thu, 14 Oct 2004 12:55:13 -0500 Message not available Wendell Piez - Thu, 14 Oct 2004 18:25:24 -0400 <= David Carlisle - Thu, 14 Oct 2004 23:34:51 +0100

<- Previous	Index	Next ->
Fun with xsl:number and a key, JBryant	Thread	Re: Fun with xsl:number and a, David Carlisle
Re: Identity Transform Groupi, Wendell Piez	Date	Re: position and grouping?, David Carlisle
	Month

PURCHASE STYLUS STUDIO ONLINE TODAY!

Purchasing Stylus Studio from our online shop is Easy, Secure and Value Priced!

Download The World's Best XML IDE!

Accelerate XML development with our award-winning XML IDE - Download a free trial today!

Subscribe in XML format

RSS 2.0
Atom 0.3

XML Editor - Download a 15 Day Free Trial Now >

See What's New in Stylus Studio >

Buy Stylus Studio - XML Editor - Now >