Re: [xsl] Empty String

[Wendell Piez <wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Greg,

<xsl:template match="String">
  <!-- matches elements named 'String' -->
  <xsl:apply-templates/>
  <!-- processes the children of the element -
       - text, other elements, whatever -->
  <xsl:if test="not(string(.))">
    <!-- passes the test if the string content is empty -->
    <xsl:value-of select="'&#xA;'"/>
    <!-- adds a linefeed character -->
  </xsl:if>
</xsl:template>

Other tests are possible, but this one is a good one. Note that this will 
test "true" if your String element contains other elements, but no text.

If you want to catch whitespace-only strings as well as zero-length 
strings, change the test to "not(normalize-space(.))". But note that such 
whitespace is also passed along by the apply-templates preceding the test.

I hope I construed correctly what you meant by "a String element that is 
empty".

This is actually a FAQ, but a hard one to document since the answer is 
always "it depends".

Hasta la vista,
Wendell

At 04:04 PM 10/23/01, you wrote:
> How do i say this using xsl: "xsl, if you find a String element that is 
> empty, please add a text element that contains a paragraph return."  I am 
> having trouble matching the empty string.
>
> --
> Thanks Muchos,
>
> Greg Martel
> Coordinator of Enchiladas


======================================================================
Wendell Piez                            mailto:wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mulberry Technologies, Inc.                http://www.mulberrytech.com
17 West Jefferson Street                    Direct Phone: 301/315-9635
Suite 207                                          Phone: 301/315-9631
Rockville, MD  20850                                 Fax: 301/315-8285
----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Mulberry Technologies: A Consultancy Specializing in SGML and XML
======================================================================


XSL-List info and archive:  http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list