Re: [xsl] Need some Advice

["Dimitre Novatchev dnovatchev@xxxxxxxxx" <xsl-list-service@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> the clients are bound with XSLT1.0 and XSLT 2.0 does not work.

If they hired you to "make XSLT 2.0 work", then they should give you time
and space to do this, otherwise this whole job is pointless. Certainly, if
they are actively undermining your effort, this raises red lights.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that 99% of the existing XSLT 1.0
transformations continue to work as intended under XSLT 2.0. So, if they
have problems with this, the reason is probably that their "XSLT 1.0" code
is not even XSLT 1.0 - compliant.XSLT 2.0 was designed to support backwards
compatibility with XSLT 1.0, and there are just minor exceptions of this
rules where new features may break compatibility.

If this whole contract hiring was just a gesture and a political maneuver
to convince someone that "this cannot be done", this stinks of politics
from miles, and based on my own experience I know that politics is the
worst interference that a developer may be hurt with -- so they simply
don't deserve to have a normal, thinking person clean their  crap.

I have lived in Australia in the past and doubt that there is only a single
company that may need a knowledgeable XSLT developer. Also, due to Covid
most companies have realized the benefits of remote work, so distances such
as thousands of kilometers/miles are no longer an obstacle for hiring.

A possible compromise that would also be a face-saving one, is reaching
agreement for a complete rewrite of their crap (sorry, ver. 1 code :) ). In
many similar cases a complete rewrite from scratch would be much faster and
painless than the nearly impossible task of turning junk into something
useful.

Cheers,
Dimitre

On Fri, Feb 4, 2022 at 10:01 AM Mailing Lists Mail daktapaal@xxxxxxxxx <
xsl-list-service@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Hello All,
> I need some advice from you all. I have been working with XSLT for last 15
> years and I have now come across a contract opportunity with a financial
> firm in Australia and I am like weeks into it. I was told that the clients
> are bound with XSLT1.0 and XSLT 2.0 does not work. I was wondering why it
> does not work. I asked if they used MS parser etc. and nothing of that sort
> is happening. When I looked into the code i figured why xslt2.0 wont work.
> it wont because of the wrong coding. xml elements are coded as text using
> &lt; and &gt; and the text  is not in the xsl:text and  xpaths are  all
> unbelievable . No one with even 1 year of exp with xslt will even fathom
> such xpaths. there are circular xpaths, no keys .. no variables. using the
> same complicated xpaths over and over again in consecutive lines of code.
> and its all a mess. Super mess and it makes me cry.  So messed up that you
> can not format the code because you will break the spacing in the text
> nodes..The reasoning.? The one who did the initial work was a contractor
> who did not know Xslt.
>
> part 2 of the story..
> I started coding and I have a muscle memory of doing the things in a
> certain way ( hopefully the right way ).. I was pulled in into a meeting
> saying that my code is messed up and that I am doing things the way that is
> against the coding standards practice of company .. every line of the code
> was changed to how they do it/// . keys removed, xsl:text removed, and
> every nightmare i imagine was asked to make and by me. I checked in the
> code now they way they do, knowing very well that it is messy..
>
> I am pulled everyday and told that my XSLT coding is not correct. I have
> always stood as the XSLT conscience and people have learnt from me. Not
> blowing trumpets of myself, but the current situation is very basic very
> very basic. I did not do these mistakes on my first job with no experience.
>
> What do I do??
> 1.Resign and let them be as they want to ?
> 2. continue and do the coding the way they want and hopefully I will get
> used to it in a couple of months and I suffer until then
>
> My heart breaks here to see the attitude that someone is holding my hand
> to make me do bad things..... The attitude is clear. "you shall do as we
> say". You can chuck your XSLT coding practices..
>
> Makes me remember a contractor who came home to cut trees. I asked him to
> do it a certain way and he said he wouldn't do it even if I gave him 2000
> GBP.
>
> Please advice.
> Dr. Tapaal Dakota
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-- 
Cheers,
Dimitre Novatchev
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