Built-in template rule for attributes

["John E. Simpson" <simpson@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello all --

Section 5.8 of the XSLT Rec says that the built-in template rule for text 
nodes and attributes is:

   <xsl:template match="text()|@*">
     <xsl:value-of select="."/>
   </xsl:template>

One subtlety that's always confused me is: Why, given this built-in rule, 
is the value of each attribute *not* copied to the result tree? In other 
words, how is this rule different from one in which the match attribute's 
value is simply "text()" rather than "text()|@*" ?

My understanding is that this built-in rule, together with the one for the 
root and element nodes, applies to all text or attribute nodes that are 
children of any element (per the <xsl:apply-templates> element in the 
root/element node built-in). Since XPath dictates that attributes aren't 
children of the elements to which they apply, I understand why attribute 
values wouldn't be copied. I'm just after the logic, therefore, of 
including the |@* in the text/attribute node built-in.

[Have just re-joined XSL-List after a months-long hiatus. Very happy to be 
back!]

================================================================
John E. Simpson          | "I spilled spot remover on my dog.
http://www.flixml.org    | He's gone now." (Steven Wright)
simpson@xxxxxxxxxxx      |


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