XSL Transformations

Basic Transformations

The value-of keyword is used to match a pattern and generates an element in the result tree containing the matched text.

<xsl:value-of select="/collection/cd/band" />

Element attributes are accessed using @. The following example matches the attribute year of the title element.

<xsl:value-of select="/collection/cd/title/@year" />

Selection

The if keyword is used for decision making. Conditions are placed in square brackets. The following example tests the paid attribute. If the paid attribute has a value of yes, then Fully Paid Member is displayed.

<xsl:if test=".[membership/@paid='yes']">Fully Paid Member</xsl:if>

Multiple conditions are performed using the choose keyword.

<xsl:choose>
    <xsl:when test=".[membership/@paid='yes']">Fully Paid Member</xsl:when>
    <xsl:when test=".[membership/@paid='no']">Unpaid Member</xsl:when>
    <xsl:otherwise>Unknown Payment Status</xsl:otherwise>
</xsl:choose>

Iteration

Iteration is achieved using the for-each keyword. The following example iterates through each cd in the collection and displays the band.

<xsl:for-each select="/collection/cd">
    <xsl:value-of select="band" />
< /xsl:for-each>m

With iteration, the sort keyword may be used to sort elements selected by the select attribute. The following example displays the bands in ascending order.

<xsl:for-each select="/collection/cd">
    <xsl:sort select="band" order="ascending" />
    <xsl:value-of select="band" />
</xsl:for-each>