Re: [xsl] XSLT FAQ ideas (was Re: trouble with namespaces)

Subject: Re: [xsl] XSLT FAQ ideas (was Re: trouble with namespaces)
From: Elliotte Rusty Harold <elharo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 11:02:53 -0500
Michael Kay wrote:

 I think it would be a good idea if we could decide on a "top ten most
 frequently asked questions" to go on the front page. Here's my starter
 list:

 * How do I output NBSP?
 * How do I output an ampersand in a URL?
 * How do I update a variable?
 * How do I match elements in the default namespace?
 * How do I eliminate duplicate values?
 * How do I group on common values?


It's also important how you phrase the FAQs, since the people with the questions often think of things differently than the people who know the answers. (Sometimes phrasing the question right is enough to get the answer.) In particular, I suggest "How do I match elements in the default namespace?" should at least include "Why did my stylesheet stop working when I added a namespace?" and "How can I make stylesheet match XHTML?"


Similarly, "How do I output NBSP?" should be "How do I output &nbsp;? (&copy;, &eacute;, &trade;, etc.)

But yes,, I agree a more focused FAQ would be useful. I recently gave up trying to find the answer to one of my questions in the FAQ and spend a couple of hours experimenting with different solutions instead, because the FAQ was just too intimidating. I still don't know whether or not my qwuestion was answered in there somewhere. FYI, it was how do you change

marked up data
<sectbreak/>
marked up data
<sectbreak/>
marked up data

into

<sect>
marked up data
</sect>
<sect>
marked up data
</sect>
<sect>
marked up data
</sect>

I did eventually figure it out. (use the count() function in a recursive template to process all the nodes with a certain number of <sectbreak/> before them)
--


+-----------------------+------------------------+-------------------+
| Elliotte Rusty Harold | elharo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx | Writer/Programmer |
+-----------------------+------------------------+-------------------+
|           Processing XML with Java (Addison-Wesley, 2002)          |
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| http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN%3D0201771861/cafeaulaitA  |
+----------------------------------+---------------------------------+
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