Re: [xsl] configuring a conditional

[Bruce D'Arcus <bdarcus@xxxxxxxxx>]

On May 23, 2005, at 4:07 AM, Michael Kay wrote:

> The way you're tackling it, you're going to need to build those  
> expressions
> before evaluating them - I wonder if that's really necessary?

My project is a general solution to citation formatting, in which all  
presentational details are configured in the non-XSL XML language.  The  
example I posted is actually a real-world style -- APA -- I need to  
support.  See:

http://www.english.uiuc.edu/cws/wworkshop/writer_resources/ 
citation_styles/apa/multiple_authors.htm
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/cws/wworkshop/writer_resources/ 
citation_styles/apa/intext_citation.htm

I suppose another approach would be a named parameter for the logic  
coupled with a function and/or template?  If currently my et al. is  
configured with a single attribute like:

   <names initialize-with=". " shorten-after="3" and-as=" &amp;"/>

... then maybe I have:

   <names initialize-with=". " shorten-rule="apa" and-as=" &amp;"/>

The problem is that I'm pretty sure the specifics of these rules can  
vary a fair bit, at least in fairly trivial areas.  For example, APA  
maybe interested in preserving the first six authors in a list, but  
another style will be interested interested in the first ten.

Bruce