[xsl] Q on XSLT number calculation precision

[Hermann Stamm-Wilbrandt <STAMMW@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello,

are there any requirements on precision of number calculations for XSLT?

I wrote stylesheet [3] just summing the first 1000 (small) terms of this
nice identity on binomial coefficient reciprocals I proved 28 years ago:

$$ \sum_{i=j+1}^{\infty}{}^1/_{i\choose j}={}^1/_{(j-1)} , ~ j\ge 2 $$

Pascal.xml [2] just starts the computation with jmax=12 and terms=1000.

I opened Pascal.xml in the big five browsers, arranged them in order to
easily compare their results and took screenshot [3] from that.

Not surprisingly the most left and most right column (Chrome and Safari)
are identical (same XSLT engine).

Interestingly Firefox and Internet Explorer produce nearly identical
values.

For j<=7 Opera is fine, but for j>=8 something goes really wrong.
The sum of the 1000 terms becomes bigger than then infinity sum :-)


[1]
http://stamm-wilbrandt.de/en/xsl-list/Chrome_FF_IE_Opera_Safari-XSLT_precision.gif
[2] http://stamm-wilbrandt.de/en/blog/Pascal.xml
[3] http://stamm-wilbrandt.de/en/blog/Pascal.xsl


Mit besten Gruessen / Best wishes,

Hermann Stamm-Wilbrandt
Developer, XML Compiler, L3
Fixpack team lead
WebSphere DataPower SOA Appliances
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