Re: having a template remember not to call itself agai

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Subject: Re: having a template remember not to call itself again
From: "Joel Kalvesmaki director@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <xsl-list-service@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2023 04:33:57 -0000

When I've reached such quandaries in the past, every time, without exception, I eventually learn that I had been overthinking/overengineering the problem. Some time off from the project helps me find a simpler, more elegant approach. Sometimes I replicate the problem on paper or with playing cards. Self-observation on how I do the task manually helps me simplify the code.

One principle I've personally adopted is to ban intentional template recursion. I put any recursion into functions (or an xsl:iterate structure). A function can provide stronger encapsulation than a template mode, and provides certain opportunities to diagnose problems.

A second principle I follow is to have templates call each other in a linear sequence (or, if you will, a directed acyclic graph), and to give them names that reminds me of the order within the sequence. If template mode step six has to call mode step one, I almost always know there is something wrong in my design. Something should be done in step 1, or before it, to avoid such a need.

In a code library I maintain, I have an exception where two template modes interact with each other, and I regret that I have not found an adequate replacement, because it is one of the hardest things for me to diagnose and debug. And I don't fully understand what I've made.

jk

On 2023-03-05 09:20, Chris Papademetrious christopher.papademetrious@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

Hi everyone,

When a template applies its processing first then calls other
templates last, I will call it "tail-call" template chaining (although
I don't know the correct term).

For "tail-call" chaining to work, PROCESSING1_HERE must transform the
content so that CONDITION1_HERE is not met again (or at least not met
in a way that loops infinitely).

But, what if PROCESSING1_HERE is very complex (nested moded templates,
recursion, etc.) and sometimes CONDITION1_HERE will match after this
template was previously applied, and there is no practical way to
embed the complexity of predetermining PROCESSING1_HERE's failure to
remove the condition into CONDITION1_HERE's match expression?


--
Joel Kalvesmaki
Director, Text Alignment Network
http://textalign.net

Current Thread

Re: having a template remember not to call itself again, (continued)
- Michael Kay mike@xxxxxxxxxxxx - 5 Mar 2023 17:52:47 -0000
- Dimitre Novatchev dnovatchev@xxxxxxxxx - 5 Mar 2023 18:18:16 -0000
- Joel Kalvesmaki director@xxxxxxxxxxxxx - 6 Mar 2023 04:33:58 -0000 <=
  - Chris Papademetrious christopher.papademetrious@xxxxxxxxxxxx - 11 Mar 2023 16:08:39 -0000

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