Re: [xsl] Lookup without document('') function

[Wendell Piez <wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi David,

Well, assuming you can't switch processors as outlined by Kip in that very 
on-topic post....

At 01:19 AM 11/8/2003, you wrote:
> Technically I can probably put the
> lookup table in the input source since I'm getting it back from a
> Database Query.  One other question, is there any way to use XPath to
> eliminate duplicates from a Node Set.

Yes, but we need to understand what you mean by "duplicate".

>   Since my XML I'm dealing with
> looks something like:
>
> <DGS>
>    <BOOKMARKS>
>        <TABLE>
>            <BMTABLE>CMSCASE</BMTABLE>
>        </TABLE>
>        <TABLE>
>            <BMTABLE>CMSCASE</BMTABLE>
>        </TABLE>
>        <TABLE>
>            <BMTABLE>CMSCASE</BMTABLE>
>        </TABLE>
>        <TABLE>
>            <BMTABLE>CMSCASE</BMTABLE>
>        </TABLE>
>        <TABLE>
>            <BMTABLE>EMPREP</BMTABLE>
>        </TABLE>
>        <TABLE>
>            <BMTABLE>EMPREP</BMTABLE>
>        </TABLE>
>    </BOOKMARKS>
> </DGS>
>
> Is there anyway to get a TABLE nodeset that would just return the
> following using XPATH:
>
> <TABLE>
>     <BMTABLE>CMSCASE</BMTABLE>
>     <BMTABLE>EMPREP</BMTABLE>
> </TABLE>

Yes, de-duplicating is possible; you most commonly see it as a step along 
the way to grouping.

The most popular and friendly way, assuming you're familiar with keys, is 
to declare a key that lets you retrieve nodes by their value, and then when 
you process a node, test whether it's the first (or last) of the nodes 
retrieved by the key with the current value. This can be done either with 
the generate-id() function or by using a counting-the-union approach for 
testing node identity.

That's the explanation in prose; more useful to you would be to see the 
code, which you can find in any resource like the XSL FAQ, 
www.jennitennison.com, or any on- or off-line resource that describes 
grouping in XSLT 1.0.

Cheers,
Wendell


> I'll keep looking for an interface to a processor that supports the
> document() function as that is the easiest way I can see in getting
> this to work (the site this will be implemented on is using XALAN so I
> don't have to worry about it when its in production).
>
>
>
> =====
> "...there is nothing stranger than people." - Anonymous
>
>  XSL-List info and archive:  http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list


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Wendell Piez                            mailto:wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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