Re: Initial whitespace in PI from XSLT, main body

MH> The relevant XSLT 3 spec section is
https://www.w3.org/TR/xslt-30/#constructing-simple-content<https://nam12.safe
links.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2FTR%2Fxslt-30%2F%
23constructing-simple-content&data=05%7C01%7Cs.bauman%40northeastern.edu%7Cf7
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gBhl8idaun40GEvxAf%2Bn5aCk%3D&reserved=0> and clearly says "6. In the case of
xsl:processing-instruction<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?ur
l=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2FTR%2Fxslt-30%2F%23element-processing-instruction
&data=05%7C01%7Cs.bauman%40northeastern.edu%7Cf7d75cb09c2b4004a57f08da3072f8d
5%7Ca8eec281aaa34daeac9b9a398b9215e7%7C0%7C0%7C637875568061990277%7CUnknown%7
CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%
3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=IcC2BVnqQQf0D5o4zlusIcLtGpzwNvU%2BtA%2Foxtuc9Xk%3D&r
eserved=0>, any leading spaces in the resulting string are removed."

DN>
https://www.w3.org/TR/xslt-30/#constructing-simple-content<https://nam12.safe
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23constructing-simple-content&data=05%7C01%7Cs.bauman%40northeastern.edu%7C9d
b73cd3a721407df65b08da3073d667%7Ca8eec281aaa34daeac9b9a398b9215e7%7C0%7C0%7C6
37875571320678621%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzI
iLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=skqprH7CYK0yWW4psy8dTVb
70sX9dXmWCVrgC4OyIKY%3D&reserved=0> : " .  .  . 6. In the case of
xsl:processing-instruction<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?ur
l=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2FTR%2Fxslt-30%2F%23element-processing-instruction
&data=05%7C01%7Cs.bauman%40northeastern.edu%7C9db73cd3a721407df65b08da3073d66
7%7Ca8eec281aaa34daeac9b9a398b9215e7%7C0%7C0%7C637875571320678621%7CUnknown%7
CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%
3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=qYVrPuaEXCFFSZ79WMJaPNnD8IJqt0ev1KDhpBVpffw%3D&reser
ved=0>, any leading spaces in the resulting string are removed."

MK> Yes, Saxon strips any leading whitespace included in the content when you
create a processing instruction using XSLT or XQuery.
MK> XQuery 3.1 mandates this in B'3.9.3.5. XSLT 3.0 also does so, in B'5.7.2.
MK> The problem is that there is no way of serializing a PI in such a way that
leading whitespace in the content round-trips when the serialised output is
re-parsed. But the serialization spec mandates that you should serialize the
XML in such a way that round-tripping works.
MK> It's unfortunate that the Data Model in B'6.5.1 doesn't state a constraint
that the content of a PI must not contain leading whitespace.
MK> XSLT 1.0 didn't say that xsl:processing-instruction should strip leading
whitespace; and XSLT 2.0 didn't explicitly list this as an incompatible
change. But then, in XSLT 1.0, there is no way of reading a processing
instruction created by the transformation other than serialization followed by
parsing, and this process loses any leading whitespace.

Thank you, gentlemen!

Seems to me, then, that Saxon is correct in stripping leading space on writing
a PI; and that xsltproc (since it is only processing XSLT 1.0) is not wrong to
include it, but will have a minor problem with this if and when it grows up to
process XSLT 3.0.

Thanks again, this has been yet another learning moment brought to you by the
XSLT community. p

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