Re: [xsl] randomly selecting a node from a node set

[Dimitre Novatchev <dnovatchev@xxxxxxxxx>]

You can use the random functions/templates of FXSL:


http://fxsl.sourceforge.net/articles/Random/Casting%20the%20Dice%20with%20FXSL-htm.htm


Cheers,

Dimitre


> On Sat, Jan 5, 2013 at 4:18 PM, Graydon <graydon@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>> So I have a bunch of boiled-down document structure that looks like:
>>
>> <tree parent="para">
>>     <count count="2331">
>>     <child>text</child>
>>     <child>item</child>
>>     <child>item</child>
>> </tree>
>>
>> <tree parent="para">
>>     <count count="548">
>>     <child>text</child>
>>     <child>subpara</child>
>>     <child>subpara</child>
>>     <child>subpara</child>
>> </tree>
>>
>> And so on; all the parent-child patterns in a (largish, ~3.5 GB) content
>> set,
>> with the count element giving the frequency with which that pattern
>> occurs.
>>
>> The overall structure of this document structure description is flat; no
>> tree
>> element contains another tree element.
>>
>> This document is being used for human review, to know what needs to be
>> defined
>> for the output process, which is not my problem, and to hopefully
>> generate in
>> an automated way a test document for that same output processing, which
>> is my
>> problem.
>>
>> To produce that generated test document, I need to do two things; I need
>> to
>> produce a nested version of the document structure, inserting in place of
>> the
>> <child> elements some existing pattern for that element name from the
>> available
>> pile of <tree/> elements with associated parent attributes having that
>> name as
>> the value and I then need to populate it with actual content.  (I do,
>> however,
>> get to lose the counts.)
>>
>> So I need to produce, for the first para, something like:
>>
>> <tree parent="para">
>>     <tree parent="text">
>>         <tree parent="italic"/>
>>     </tree>
>>     <tree parent="item">
>>         <tree parent="text"/>
>>     </tree>
>>     <tree parent="item">
>>         <tree parent="para">
>>             <tree parent="text"/>
>>         </tree>
>>     </tree>
>> </tree>
>>
>> And then populate it from the actual content, so the tree elements are
>> replaced
>> with the elements whose names are the values of the parent attributes.
>>
>> I think I can produce the tree; it's not, and isn't supposed to be,
>> acyclic,
>> but setting an arbitrary limit on the number of times it goes
>> section/block/section/block (or para/item/para, and so on) is acceptable.
>>
>> What I don't know how to do is randomly select elements from the elements
>> available in the appropriate node set.
>>
>> So I have to replace <child>text</child> with a tree element that has
>> one of the possible patterns for a text element; there are, say, eight
>> such patterns defined, so count(//tree[@parent eq 'text']) is equal to
>> eight.
>>
>> I don't want _all_ the possible text element patterns; I just want one.
>> But I
>> certainly don't always want to get the first one, either.
>>
>> So far as I know, unordered() may be implementation-dependent, but it's
>> allowed
>> to be and probably will be consistent, so there really isn't any
>> difference for
>> this purpose between //tree[@parent eq 'text'][1] and
>> unordered(//tree[@parent
>> eq 'text']), I'll always get the same one.
>>
>> Anyone got suggestions as to how one picks a random node out of a node
>> sequence?
>>
>> Thanks!
>> Graydon
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Cheers,
> Dimitre Novatchev
> ---------------------------------------
> Truly great madness cannot be achieved without significant intelligence.
> ---------------------------------------
> To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk
> -------------------------------------
> Never fight an inanimate object
> -------------------------------------
> To avoid situations in which you might make mistakes may be the
> biggest mistake of all
> ------------------------------------
> Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.
> -------------------------------------
> You've achieved success in your field when you don't know whether what
> you're doing is work or play
> -------------------------------------
> Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
> -------------------------------------
> Typing monkeys will write all Shakespeare's works in 200yrs.Will they
> write all patents, too? :)
> -------------------------------------
> I finally figured out the only reason to be alive is to enjoy it.
>




--
Cheers,
Dimitre Novatchev
---------------------------------------
Truly great madness cannot be achieved without significant intelligence.
---------------------------------------
To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk
-------------------------------------
Never fight an inanimate object
-------------------------------------
To avoid situations in which you might make mistakes may be the
biggest mistake of all
------------------------------------
Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.
-------------------------------------
You've achieved success in your field when you don't know whether what
you're doing is work or play
-------------------------------------
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
-------------------------------------
Typing monkeys will write all Shakespeare's works in 200yrs.Will they write
all patents, too? :)
-------------------------------------
I finally figured out the only reason to be alive is to enjoy it.