Re: [xsl] Debugging (was: template matching on text value of a parent......not)

Subject: Re: [xsl] Debugging (was: template matching on text value of a parent......not)
From: "Michael Kay mike@xxxxxxxxxxxx" <xsl-list-service@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 08:56:49 -0000
This raises the question, how should one approach the debugging of such
problems, other than by staring at the code until you see the light.

It's common enough and we've all experienced it: you write a complex
expression that looks right, and it returns nothing, and you have no clue
why.

I'd suggest the following strategy:

1. Add something like

<debug><xsl:copy-of select="X"/></debug>

where X is the offending expression

2. If <debug/> comes out empty, successively remove predicates and axis steps
from X starting at the right-hand end, until you get some output.

3. When you get some output, the last step you removed was the one that was
wrong.


Michael Kay
Saxonica
mike@xxxxxxxxxxxx
+44 (0) 118 946 5893




On 14 Aug 2014, at 23:28, Ihe Onwuka ihe.onwuka@xxxxxxxxx
<xsl-list-service@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Lord.... even after staring at the shorter version  multiple times I did not
see it. It's obviously been a long long day and I should have walked away from
this ages ago.

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