[xsl] Typing of parameters in XSLT 2.0

[Andrew Watt <andrew@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I was experimenting in Saxon 7.4 with a simple factorial example which 
accepts an argument from the command line.

In the absence of an as attribute or a type-information attribute on the 
<xsl:param> element the stylesheet seemed to behave in XSLT 2.0 as it did 
in XSLT 1.0.

That is convenient but I am not sure that I completely understand the XSLT 
2.0 processor's behaviour.

Let's say the command line was java -jar saxon7.jar ..... number=5.

What type is the supplied parameter 5 in XSLT 2.0? I couldn't find a clear 
description in the spec.

Is the supplied parameter a string which is then automatically cast to an 
XPath 1.0 number?

In the processing of the $number parameter and the variable(s) used to 
recursively calculate the factorial it was being treated as some type of 
number, since I could perform both subtraction and multiplication on it. An 
XPath 1.0 number? Or an xsd:integer??

In the absence of both an as attribute and a type-information attribute is 
an XSLT 2.0 processor expected to produce the same behavior as in XSLT 1.0 
and automatically treat parameters "intuitively"? Or is the Saxon 7.4 
behaviour a carry over from its XSLT 1.0 heritage?

Andrew Watt



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