Re: [xsl] When to use text()

[Michael Kay <mike@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 21 Mar 2014, at 11:08, Heiko Niemann <kontakt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I noticed in my code that I sometimes use text() to select a text node and
> sometimes I don't. I do understand that /foo is different to /foo/text()
> if foo has mixed content. But if I have a simple source like
>
> <box>
>  <item>apple</item>
> </box>

In such content you should NOT use text(). If you do, your code will fail in
the presence of comments such as

<item>appel<!--sic--> pie</item>

and it's good practice that comments should not affect the result of
processing.

> So this leaves the question: when actually use text()?
>

Only use it if you need to process the text node children and element children
of a mixed-content element individually.

Michael Kay
Saxonica