Re: [xsl] A beef with XSLT Sometimes too complicated

["Dimitre Novatchev" <dnovatchev@xxxxxxxxx>]

> I think we'll be using our aesthetic sense -- what looks right,
> assessing clarity and concision in the usual way -- until we have
> enough experience to derive some rules of thumb.

While I completely agree with Wendell on this, let me point out that
it is not only a matter of aesthetic preference. XSLT is just a little
bit more expressive -- one example where I cannot use XPath only is
when I need to define a variable as a sequence:

  for $i in someSeq

will iterate $i over someSeq

In all such cases one *must* use the <xsl:variable > instruction.



--
Cheers,
Dimitre Novatchev
---------------------------------------
Truly great madness cannot be achieved without significant intelligence.



On 7/14/06, Wendell Piez <wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> At 05:16 AM 7/14/2006, Nic wrote:
> > >> Is there a cleaner / simpler way to do this?  Any chance you can do
> > >> this in one line?
> > >
> > > In xslt2:
> > >
> > > <xsl:variable name="bg_img" select="if(normalize-space($all_vars))
> > >  then 'background_bright' else 'background_faded'"/>
> >
> >I hate the idea of 2 'if's in a language.
> >
> >IMHO that makes it even more complicated.
>
> In the past it's been asked whether we should prefer our logic in the
> XPath or in the XSLT, or if in either/both, how to strike the balance.
>
> IIRC it was Dimitre who asked, and Mike gave a characteristically
> thoughtful answer, but no reliable principle has emerged.
>
> I think we'll be using our aesthetic sense -- what looks right,
> assessing clarity and concision in the usual way -- until we have
> enough experience to derive some rules of thumb.
>
> In any case it's going to be fun to see what kind of programming
> styles emerge in 2.0.
>
> Cheers,
> Wendell