[xsl] apply-templates and predicates

Subject: [xsl] apply-templates and predicates
From: "tom tom" <tomxsllist@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2005 13:37:54 +0100
when applying templates it is possible to filter out unwanted nodes in a number of ways, one is by putting a predicate on the apply-templates command and use modes if you have more than one filter. Another is to apply-templates to all nodes and put a predicate on the template match - this avoids the use of modes.

I can see 3 advantages for doing the former:

It improves efficiency i.e. the processor will only begin searching for relevant elements rather than searching for matches which are then filtered out immediately.

improves the readability of the stylesheet. The author will know definitively which template is being invoked without having to look through imported and included stylesheets.

In a situation of no suitable match being found the inbuilt <xsl:template match="*"> template will be invoked if it hasnt been overridden which could lead to either unexpected or unnecessary searching.

Can anyone provide any more or provide advantages of doing the latter?

Thanks

Tom

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