Re: [xsl] more on Using apply-templates instead of for-each?

[Wendell Piez <wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi again Kathy,

At 02:09 PM 4/15/2003, you wrote:
> ***I'm just trying to put each numbered <listitem> (child of
> safety/numbered_list) into a table row***
>
> <xsl:template match="safety">
>         <table border="1" width="100%" cellpadding="4">
>                 <tr bgcolor="red" valign="bottom">
>
>                         <th align="left">
>
>                                 <h3>SAFETY</h3>
>                         </th>
>                 </tr>
>                         <xsl:for-each select="numbered_list/listitem">
>
>                 <tr>
>                         <td>
>                                 <xsl:number level="multiple" format="1. "
> count="listitem" />
> <xsl:value-of select="." />
>                         </td>
>                 </tr>
>                         </xsl:for-each>
>                 </table>
>                 <br />
>         </xsl:template>

Fully templated version:

<xsl:template match="safety">
  <table border="1" width="100%" cellpadding="4">
    <tr bgcolor="red" valign="bottom">
      <th align="left">
        <h3>SAFETY</h3>
      </th>
    </tr>
    <xsl:apply-templates select="numbered_list/listitem"/>
    <!-- depending on your source data you may not need the 'select' 
attribute -->
  </table>
  <br />
</xsl:template>

<xsl:template match="listitem">
<!-- again depending, you may want to qualify this as
     match="numbered_list/listitem"
     and/or use a mode -->
  <tr>
    <td>
      <xsl:number level="multiple" format="1. " count="listitem" />
      <xsl:apply-templates/>
      <!-- instead of saying value-of we'll let the built-in templates do 
it -->
    </td>
  </tr>
</xsl:template>

As you can see, in this simple case there's no appreciable gain in clarity 
or power; but as your source and processing get more complex, templates 
give us the flexibility we will need. (Think about what happens as your 
source data gets loose and variable.)

Cheers,
Wendell


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Wendell Piez                            mailto:wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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