Re: My favourite XSLT enhancement requests

[Alexey Gokhberg <alexei@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello, Lassi

Thank you indeed for starting an important discussion.

> Personally I am not interested in that great a revision.  I think the
> language as it is now is very good ...

I cannot agree. Apparently, it isn't. To let alone peanuts like the
"formfeed" problem of 13-Sep, there are more important limitations in
the current XSLT processing model. The most sriking example is so called
"split processing" - the category of transformations that require
splitting of the arbitrary node set into (potentially nested) groups
based on certain criteria (e.g., fixed number of nodes in a group, same
value of some function applied to the nodes, etc). This sort of
transformations is vitally important. Just examine XSL-List postings of
recent days, and you will find many incarnations of the split processing
problem. Note how complicated (and potentially inefficient) are the
proposed solutions - while any child can easily handle this sort of
algorithms with any average report generation tool. As I understand, the
"XSLT Transformations Requirements Version 1.1" does not even address
this issue ...

(One possible approach to solve the problem is described in
http://www.unicorn-enterprises.com/XSLRPT.HTM and is fully implemented
in my XSLT processor at
http://www.unicorn-enterprises.com/uxsl_1_02_15.zip).

.......

> 
> Hmm, this is starting to sound like I really ought to be using a
> database and one of the database-aware XSL engines...
> 

If you can accept the Windows-only implemenation, it would be probably
worth to try one at 

http://www.unicorn-enterprises.com/uxtdb_1_02_15.zip

It is compact, easy to install and use.

Kind regards,

Alexey


 XSL-List info and archive:  http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list