[xsl] Counting Child Nodes

["bix xslt" <bix_xslt@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

All,

   As I've been developing my xsl scripts, I've realized that it would be 
beneficial to be able to write my xslt in such a way that it would 
dynamically format my page for an optimal view based on a few factors.  
Essentially, I have a very large table which contains data from its child 
node and its grandchild node.  An example xml file would be:

<data><text>Title for web page</text>
   <data><text>Motivation</text>
       <data><text>White Pages</text></data>
       <data><text>References</text></data>
   </data>
   <data><text>Requirements</text>
       <data><text>Software</text></data>
       <data><text>Hardware</text></data>
   </data>
   <data><text>Design</text>
       <data><text>Interfaces</text>
           <data><text>Hardware/Software</text></data>
           <data><text>Legacy Software</text></data>
       </data>
       <data><text>Functions</text></data>
   </data>
   <data><text>Implementation</text></data>
   <data><text>Verification</text></data>
   <data><text>Documentation</text></data>
   <data><text>Archive</text></data>
</data>

   Note that there are 7 <data> elements that are children of the root 
node.  In my table, I could display each one in their own row or column, but 
I would prefer to put three children on the first and second lines, and then 
a single child on the third line.  An example of this would be:

   One per column:
       [Motivation]    [Requirements]    [Design]    [Implementation]    . 
.. . .

   One per row:
       [Motivation]
       [Requirements]
       [Design]
       .
       .

   Optimal View:
       [Motivation]            [Requirements]    [Design]
       [Implementation]    [Verification]        [Documentation]
                                   [Archives]

   The algorithm I would use to determine how many rows and columns would 
be as follows:
       T = Total number of children
       R = Number of children displayed per row
       C = Number of columns needed

   <!-- find T -->
   T = ??

   <!-- initialize the values -->
   set R = 1
   set C = T

   <!-- setup a loop to find the best numbers -->
   while ( R < C and C > 1 )
       R = R + 1
       C = C - 1

   <!-- numbers should now be close to optimal, so start displaying -->


   So, my question is two-fold:  How do I find T, and is there a slick way 
of converting the psuedo code above into XSLT?

Thanks,
Bix





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