Re: [xsl] Increment/decrement a variable in XSL

Subject: Re: [xsl] Increment/decrement a variable in XSL
From: Petr Cimprich <petr@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 04 Apr 2002 11:02:36 +0200

Julian Reschke wrote:


I would use an external variable and a set of functions (increase,
decrease, getValue) defined using the script element from the
http://www.exslt.org/functions namespace.

I think when you want to increment/decrement a variable, you may be
justified to escape to a procedural language and to increment/decrement
a variable simply. XSLT is not designed for this task and all other ways
are more or less workarounds, IMHO.

I see this is not a "pure XSLT" solution but I think it's appropriate
for this non-XSLT task.


Following this line of argument it may be better not to use XSLT at all.



I don't think so. It may just be better not to use XSLT for everything :)




You *are* aware that using extension functions to change variable values not
only ties you to a specific extension, but also to a particular
implementation/version (execution order, variable evaluation order...)?


I think that EXSLT.org's primary goal is to make extensions (more) portable. The suggested solution should work with every processor supporting EXSLT's funct:script. I agree that this may be mere theory and I'm not sure how many processors support this extension element now.


Anyway, facing a non-XSLT problem such as this one, one should consider all solutions including XSLT extensions or even some other ways than XSLT. I'm not aware of a context of this problem, it's likely that an XSLT workaround is still the best solution.

--
Petr Cimprich
Ginger Alliance
www.gingerall.com




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