Re: [xsl] more elegant way to process element with default value?

[Steve Rosenberry <Steve.Rosenberry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Lars Huttar wrote:
> 
>   <xsl:variable name="number-rows">
>     <xsl:variable name="tmp" select="/*/llcd:global-settings/llcd:setting[@name =
>  'number-rows']"/>
>     <xsl:choose>
>       <xsl:when test="$tmp"><xsl:value-of select="$tmp" /></xsl:when>
>       <xsl:otherwise><xsl:value-of select="'true'" /></xsl:otherwise>
>     </xsl:choose>
>   </xsl:variable>
> 
> But that seems pretty verbose.  And it will be worse as I have multiple
> settings variables with various names.
> Is there a more elegant way?
> 

Wow, Lars, if you consider that verbose I must be doing something
terribly wrong...

Assuming, all your global settings follow the same basic XPath
structure, I'd do it as follows:

   <xsl:variable name="number-rows">
     <xsl:call-template name="get_global_setting">
       <xsl:with-param name="setting" select="'number-rows'"/>
     </xsl:call-template>
   </xsl:variable>

and then provide the appropriate get_global_setting named template.  If
your XPath structure doesn't allow for the simple syntax above, you can
always change the "setting" parameter to a "path" parameter.

In an actual XSLT file, I would write the entire variable declaration
above on a single line to get most of the verbosity out of my face.  As
an added benefit, if the retrieval method for your global settings
changes, you only have a single place to change your XSLT.  

-- 
Steve Rosenberry
Sr. Partner

Electronic Solutions Company -- For the Home of Integration
http://ElectronicSolutionsCo.com

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