Re: [xsl] Newbie wonders why the variable can change value?

[Michael Kay <mike@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> A template that only matches the top of the tree, the Org-level ACCT, processes and nests the appropriate siblings as follows :
>
> <xsl:variable name="currentOR" select="HIERARCHY_Info/@Acct_ID"/>
> <xsl:apply-templates  mode="RE" select="../ACCT[HIERARCHY_Info/@Prnt_Acct_ID=$currentOR]"/>	
> 				
> I use the variable, because the following alternative coding returns none of the sibling nodes,  nodes, because (I think) it compares the siblings' parent-acct-IDs to their own acct-IDs:
>
> <xsl:apply-templates  mode="RE" select="../ACCT[HIERARCHY_Info/@Prnt_Acct_ID=HIERARCHY_Info/@Acct_ID]"/>	

Brandon has given you an excellent explanation of how variables in XSLT 
work. But I suspect that might only part of your difficulty here. The 
essential reason the two examples above give different results is that 
the expression HEIREARCHY/@Acct_ID is evaluated in a different context 
in the two cases. Inside a predicate (i.e. in square brackets) a 
relative path expression is evaluated relative to the node you are 
testing - in this case, the ACCT element.

Michael Kay
Saxonica