Re: [xsl] How do I search ancestors in the output tree?

Subject: Re: [xsl] How do I search ancestors in the output tree?
From: Stefan Drees <stefan@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 01 Sep 2012 10:46:02 +0200
At 31.08.12 21:47, G. Ken Holman wrote:
> At 2012-08-31 19:32 +0000, Costello, Roger L. wrote:
>> How do I search ancestors in the output tree?  (As opposed to
>> searching ancestors in the input tree).
>
> As Chris said, you cannot do this.
>
One reason is that the processor is allowed not to keep the output
tree in memory. XSLT is designed so that the processor can instantly
serialize an element's start tag with all of its attribute
specifications once the element's content begins being output.
>
> Thus, the output tree wouldn't be available to you to query.  There is
> no "going back" in order to change something or query something in the
> result tree.
> ...

as Roger (right from the start) "apologize[d] for [the] question being so abstract", shouldn't we say instead "the output tree wouldn't be available to you to query unless you make it the input tree for a subsequent transform" ?

I always conceived a common strength of sql and xsl* is the concept that result sets/trees MAY be chained together (endlessly if one prefers to do so).

But may be this is a misconception of mine or unpractical for Rogers abstract task at hand

All the best,
Stefan.

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