Crazy idea: loopback namespace

["Jon Smirl" <jonsmirl@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I am finding the param/call-template syntax of XSL to be quite clumsy. It
does work, it is just very verbose. It seems to me like there should be a
way to get XSL to help with the syntax. Also, from earlier XSL discussions I
know it would be a bad thing to allow access to the output tree from the
stylesheet.

How about a different approach? Create a loopback namespace. When a element
in the loopback namespace is closed it is fed back into the stylesheet.

Then I could write a stylesheet like this:

<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform";
xmlns:loop="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Loopback";>

<xsl:template match="xxx">
    <loop:yyy parm1="a" parm2="b"/>
</xsl:template>

<xsl:template match="zzz">
    <loop:yyy parm1="a" param2="{.}">
</xsl:template>

</xsl:template>

<xsl:template match="loop:yyy">
    do my function
</xsl:template>

What do you think, could this be a replacement for param/call-template or am
I missing something obvious? For example I lose the ability to default an
attribute/param but I gain the ability to build chained stylesheets. It
might even be possible to attach a schema to the loopback space and allow
validation/defaulting.

Jon Smirl
jonsmirl@xxxxxxxxxxxx



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