Re: [xsl] Retaining value of a Global variable

[Wendell Piez <wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Vivek,

At 05:04 PM 7/16/2004, you wrote:
> In the second template when I print whead before the <img> it shows 'No' 
> for all articles even if I set it to 'Yes' after the <img>. Any clues on 
> how to retain the value of the variable?

You can't. Why do you want to?

This isn't just a flippant question. Depending on your honest response, we 
(well, someone: I'm shortly heading home) can give you an honest XSLT 
answer to your real question. It will probably be easier than trying to use 
a variable.

When thinking "variable" in XSLT (as David C our resident mathematician 
sometimes has to remind us) you should think "algebra" not "FORTRAN". In 
conventional algebra, the statement "x=x+1" is really meaningless (and it's 
a good thing too). XSLT is a functional or quasi-functional language (think 
of the stylesheet as a function that maps the input to an output), and most 
of  (ideally, all) the state-maintenance, for which variables are so 
heavily used in other technologies, is handled under the hood by the 
processor. Less work for us.

So your global variable hasn't been reinitialized. Rather, when the local 
variable that shadows it goes out of scope, it is revealed again for what 
it is.

In XSLT if you *really* need a counter or something to pass state between 
your templates, you can use a parameter. Five times out of six, this is not 
necessary -- which is why we have to ask what you want to achieve with your 
variable, to guide you to the better answer.

Cheers,
Wendell


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Wendell Piez                            mailto:wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mulberry Technologies, Inc.                http://www.mulberrytech.com
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