Subject: RE: Interpretation of (preceding::foo)[1] From: "Paul W. Abrahams" <abrahams@xxxxxxxxxxx> Date: Fri, 03 Dec 1999 13:32:33 -0500 |
Michael Kay wrote: > > If they are considered as expressions, then preceding::foo[1] is a > > location path treated as an expression while (preceding::foo)[1] is > > directly an expression consisting of the parenthesized expr > > (preceding::foo) narrowed by the predicate[1], and the child axis > > isn't applied, despite what the note says. > > > The spec is really trying to exercise your brain in this area, it says in > 3.3 that "the predicate filters the node-set with respect to the child > axis", purely as a device for ensuring that every predicate has an > associated axis and therefore an associated direction. It's a peculiar way > of saying that the nodes are filtered in document order, and has nothing to > do with the nodes being children of any common parent. > > Took me a while to work out! So the reference to the child axis is really a kind of dummy reference whose only relevant property is the associated direction, right? Would it be equivalent if the text of 3.3 had said ``the Predicate filters the node-set with respect to the following-sibling axis''? That would replace a misleading reference by an utterly mystifying one <s>, which might or might not be a change for the better. If any of the spec-writers are listening, please hear the message that an explanatory note here would be very helpful. Even better would be to replace the reference to the child axis by a straightforward statement that the proximity positions are calculated using document order rather than reverse order no matter how the node-set itself is obtained. Congratulations on deciphering this particular rune, Michael! Paul Abrahams XSL-List info and archive: http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list
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