Re: [xsl] question about identity transform

[Wendell Piez <wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 05:01 PM 10/31/2006, Dimitre wrote:
> > If you would refers it, and make it, say: ` node ( ) | @* ' the nodes
> > would first be copied, resulting in the attributes ending up illegally:
> > you may not create an attribute node after you create an element node in
> > the result tree. However, I'm not sure if this is really enforced by the
> > specs.
>
> This is not true.
>
> The order in which an <xsl:apply-templates> instruction is applied on
> the nodes selected by the expression as specified in its select
> attribute is not defined and may be in any order.
>
> What is important, is that the results of these applications are
> combined/ordered based on the document order of the processed nodes.

The analogy that occurred to me lately is the "take a number" routine 
you find in your local Division of Motor Vehicles (or the friendly 
bureaucracy of your choice if you're not a US resident). Applicants 
on arrival are given numbers that are then called in order, so while 
we're waiting around we don't actually have to stand in line.

While we're waiting, we typically fill out the forms that will be 
required of us.

In XSLT, it's as if the processing happens as we fill out the forms. 
The re-ordering only has to occur at serialization time.

The number, of course, is called "position()" (which you may note has 
nothing necessarily to do with how we were ordered when we arrived).

Cheers,
Wendell



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Wendell Piez                            mailto:wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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