Re: xpath query

Thank you all.

I was thinking last night, typically I just output an html file to see
the results of my transformation.
Then I thought what if I just wanted to process the original xml file,
replace the apply="1" with apply="true" and write the results to
another xml file
I read elsewhere in the archives about the identity template and the
suggestion is basically the following (to just replicate the original
xml)
<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version="2.0">
<xsl:output method="xml" indent="yes"/>
   <xsl:template match="@* | node()">
       <xsl:copy>
           <xsl:apply-templates select="@* | node()"/>
       </xsl:copy>
   </xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

Which works as advertised.
I understand that I can create another template to match what ever I
like to futrher refine the output like this

 <xsl:template match="@apply">
       <xsl:attribute name="apply">
           <xsl:value-of select="replace(., '1', 'true')"/>
       </xsl:attribute>
   </xsl:template>

So far so good.
I have 2 questions though.
1) - In the first template that copies the original xml, the
expression select="@* | node()" What is this saying?
I read it is another way of phrasing this select="attribute() |
element() | text() | comment() | processing-instruction()" (which
seems much clearer)
Either expression does what I want, but I am trying to map the first
expression "@* | node()" onto the latter.
I am pretty sure the @* means all attributes?  If this is the case how
does "node()" translate to "element() | text() | comment() |
processing-instruction()"?

2) - Also related to the first template. Why do I need the
<xsl:template match="@* | node()"> and
<xsl:apply-templates select="@* | node()"/> in the <xsl:copy/> tag?
I would have thought in the template match "/" would have sufficed.
(When I try that, I just get the values from the nodes).

Also in the thread Abel stated
>I think many people find this at first confusing: when do you get a node
>set, when do you get one node, when do you get a sequence or a sequence
>of nodes, when do you need apply-templates, when for-each or
>for-each-group etc etc. Getting it straight is vital for working with
>XSLT without frustration.

Do you know of any resources, either online or in print that explain
these concepts well with good examples?  I would really like to make
this confusion
a thing of the past for myself.
Thanks in advance
Sean

On Jan 19, 2008 8:21 AM, Abel Braaksma <abel.online@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Sean Tiley wrote:
> > Hi Abel,
> > No I am not the same person. Why did you think that?
> >
>
> The first part of the OP's name is 'Sen', yours is "Sean". Also, it
> happens sometimes that people use different email addresses to anonymize
> their posts, but sometimes forget it and send from their other address.
> And of course, companies may share addresses with people through groups
> (but then it's not the same p).
>
> > I was reading the thread and was trying to fully understand the
> > requirement and solutions provided. I used the original XML to play
> > with creating my stylesheets to see what I could do with it.
> >
>
> That's very good, that was the way I learned XSLT: reading from the list
> and trying to understand what was posted.
>
> > Did I do something incorrect when I asked my questions in the same
> > thread?  Should I have posted a new message.  Please tell me as I am
> > new to this list and dont want to make a bad impression.
> >
>
> No and not necessarily, but Tommie already explained you that ;)
> I was just a bit puzzled by your follow-up questions and didn't see
> something like "I read this thread and was wondering about...". So it
> "sounded" as if it was the OP (Original Poster) asking follow-ups...
>
> > I do appreciate your comments on my questions, they certainly help me
> > get all of this straight in my head.
> >
>
> Glad to have been of help. Ask anytime, this is a lively list and we're
> here to help ;)
>
>
> Cheers,
> -- Abel Braaksma
>
>

-- 
Sean Tiley
sean.tiley@xxxxxxxxx