Re: [xsl] Is there any benefit to creating a variable and specifying as="xs:string"?

["Pieter Masereeuw pieter@xxxxxxxxxxxx" <xsl-list-service@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I have often been saved by an error if an XPath expression returned a 
sequence of more than one items, while the as= clause declared the 
parameter or the value to allow just one. So it is not only the datatype 
that matters, but also the number of items.

Pieter Masereeuw

On 6/17/24 08:07, Michael Kay michaelkay90@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
>
>
>> On 17 Jun 2024, at 02:41, Dimitre Novatchev dnovatchev@xxxxxxxxx 
>> <xsl-list-service@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>> >B B  >>
>> >B B  >> That "as" clause says the ICAO param is a string value. Well, 
>> everything is a string.
>> >
>> >B B  Nonsense. Saying as="xs:string" stops the caller from supplying 
>> (say) a boolean, a number, or a map.
>>
>> I was under the impression that the quoted global parameter 
>> declaration was for a value supplied on the command-line that invoked 
>> the XSLT processor:
>>
>> >B B B B B B B B B B B  <xsl:param name="ICAO" as="xs:string"/>
>>
>> In this case Roger would be right that specifying the type as 
>> xs:string would not be too-useful, or is this not so?
>>
>
> Yes, if it's only ever called from the Saxon command line, then 
> specifying as="xs:string" achieves very little. It does however 
> prevent someone supplying, say, an integer using the command line 
> syntax ?ICAO=42, or a date using ?ICAO=current-date(). It also has 
> documentary value, and it will come into its own if someone in the 
> fullness of time attempts to invoke the stylesheet using a different 
> processor or a different API.
>
> Michael Kay
> Saxonica
>
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