Re: Changing the value of a variable

Subject: Re: Changing the value of a variable
From: Brandon Ibach <bibach@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 18:43:42 -0500
Quoting joseph, Gershon <Gershon_joseph@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
> This should be simple, but I can't find how to do it. I want to manage
> counters on elements in an equivalent way to how counters work in FOSIs.
> DSSSL does not provide a function to maintain a counter for some element
> that occurs anywhere under a specific parent element.
> 
> [...]
> 
> What am I doing wrong?
> 
Hi, Gershon...
   This is kind of a matter of overall philosophy.  DSSSL is a
functional, side-effect free language, meaning that a function (or
element rule, etc) can only take input (in the form of arguments
and/or information from the grove via the query language) and produce
a result (returned to the caller).  It can't do anything that would
cause any type of change to the environment.  In other words, it can't
have any side effects. :)
   One of the main reasons for this is that it allows the DSSSL engine
to (potentially) execute the style sheet on the document in a more
arbitrary order, if it could improve performance.
   I believe the query language (SDQL) provides functions that will
accomplish what you want.  Read through chapter 10 of the standard to
see what's available.  If you can't find a solution there, check back,
and we may be able to help you craft a solution.

-Brandon :)


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