RE: [xsl] Re: XSLT 2.0: On xsl:sequence and xsl:copy-of

Subject: RE: [xsl] Re: XSLT 2.0: On xsl:sequence and xsl:copy-of
From: David.Pawson@xxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 09:15:54 +0100
Hi again Jeni.
  Thanks for your patience.

> >> Yes, or at least partly. If you have an 'as' attribute on
> >> <xsl:variable> then it indicates the static type of the variable,
> >> but the variable itself can be of a more specific type.
> >> 
> > Roughly (not using DC speak), the 'as' attribute is the one I want,
> > even if the contents (of xsl:variable in this example) might vary?
> 
> I can't tell what you *want* because I don't know what you want to do.

Just understand it.
  I'm interpreting the as attribute as specifying the datatype I want
the variable to be.
 your explanation below clarifies, but surprises.



> Yes. The value returned from evaluating the XPath expression "2" is an
> xs:integer with the value 2. The 'as' attribute of the <xsl:variable>
> element says that the type of the variable is a xs:decimal. So the
> static type is xs:decimal, the dynamic type is xs:integer.
> 
> > Assuming such a cast is viable/allowed, any use of $foo will be as a
> > decimal thereafter in the stylesheet?
> 
> The value of the variable is an xs:integer, and it will remain so: the
> xs:integer isn't cast to a xs:decimal because an xs:integer can always
> be used where a xs:decimal is expected because xs:integer is a subtype
> of xs:decimal.

... In which case the as attribute is redundant.. unless I 'invent'
content (i.e. use a literal) since I can't change the type (my 'cast' idea
above) using the as attribute.
  
  I.e. any xsl:variable which contains source document content will 
'determine its own data type' irrespective of the as attribute? 
  The user concern only needs to be that our 'as' type is a subtype of
the actual result?





> 
> >> As long as the dynamic type (the type of the value that the
> >> variable gets set to) is a subset of the static type (the type of
> >> the variable as declared by the 'as' attribute), you're OK.
> >
> > 'Can be cast to' I guess.
> 
> Well, "matches" would be the correct terminology, I guess. I should
> rephrase to:
> 
>   "As long as the value the variable gets set to matches the static
>    type, you're OK."

Is your 'is a subtype of' still a valid alternative Jeni?


> 
> Whether a value "matches" a particular SequenceType is determined
> according to the rules in XPath 2.0 at:
> 
>   http://www.w3.org/TR/xpath20/#id-sequencetype-matching
> 
> "Can be cast to" isn't the correct terminology because the only
> casting that's supported in XPath is the casting of a single atomic
> value to a different atomic type. So for example "a sequence of three
> elements" can't be "cast to" the SequenceType "element()+", but it
> *matches* the SequenceType "element()+".

OK, thanks. 



> > Is there a difference (to a user) between sequence types and data
> > types?
> 
> The term "data type" is usually used to refer to atomic data types
> such as xs:decimal, xs:date and so on. A "sequence type" refers to the
> type of a sequence, such as "one or more elements". So yes, there is a
> meaningful difference.

Is this a break point between xsd and xslt+xpath? 
We pull data types from XSD, then add sequence types?

> 
> >> However, to summarize, a SequenceType can be:
> >>         - "document(element(*, Type))"
> >>         - "document(element(SchemaPath))"
> >
> > What does the 'nth level' mean please Jeni?
> > Its a node (most generic)
> >   Its a document (less generic)
> >      Its an element (even less generic)
> >         ????
> 
> I was trying to group the possible sequence types for explanatory
> purposes, simply to make the list easier to understand. If you'd
> prefer a flat list, just look at the things in quotes.

No, it illustrates nicely the hierarchy.
 I was checking my understanding of the nesting?
  Is it the 'subtype' mentioned above?
    E.g. you had 
             "a node()
                "element()
                   "element(Name, Type)
 
Can I read that as element is a subtype of node,
    the last line I'm less sure of.
    What's the 'type' (is it one from int, decimal, string etc,
       referring to the element content?)

> In basic XSLT processors, we might well only require support for
> atomic values with a subset of the data types, probably:
> 
>   - xs:string
>   - xs:boolean
>   - xs:decimal
>   - xs:integer
>   - xs:double
>   - xs:date
>   - xs:time
>   - xs:dateTime
>   - xs:QName
>   - xs:anyURI
>   - xdt:dayTimeDuration
>   - xdt:yearMonthDuration
>   - xdt:untypedAtomic

It will be interesting to see just how constrained such a processor is,
if anyone does produce one.
> 
> When declaring the type of a variable (i.e. in a SequenceType), you
> will also be able to refer to the more general type xdt:anyAtomicType.
> 
> >> There's certainly more to learn in XSLT 2.0 than there was in XSLT
> >> 1.0, which isn't surprising considering that it can do that much
> >> more.
> >
> > I'd argue over how much more. I'm less convinced the baggage is a
> > fair weight to carry when getting the useful subset of the 'more'
> > that's provided.
> 
> As you may know, I am likewise unconvinced:
> 
>   
http://www.mulberrytech.com/Extreme/Proceedings/html/2003/Tennison01/EML2003
Tennison01.html

Well worth a read people.

At least read the conclusion



Thanks Jeni.

regards DaveP

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