Re: [xsl] Re: Keeping a running total?

[Wendell Piez <wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Steve,

At 02:24 PM 7/12/2006, you wrote:
> I suspect I am simply not a high-enough level user to exploit these
> benefits to any degree, but I can understand their benefit.

You've already benefited! XSLT has been around since before the turn 
of the century, stable, and here for you to use it. It solves a great 
many problems easily, and for those it does not, an informed user 
community exists with whom you are free to brood. It's hard to 
imagine that all this would be true if the language were as 
drastically in need of amendment, at a fundamental level, as you imply.

>  However, I suspect that an option to make variables modifiable--at 
> the expense of
> the points mentioned--would come under wide use, quickly. =)

See
http://stx.sourceforge.net/
and the links therefrom.

Also, Saxon has a variable (re-)assignment extension, saxon:assign, 
which you are free to use if using Saxon (a very popular, very 
conformant XSLT engine) -- at your own risk. (And you may have to use 
an older version of Saxon: see the documentation at
http://www.saxonica.com/documentation/extensions/instructions/assign.html. 
:-> )

The fact that these were not immediately proposed as providing 
obvious solutions to your problems are perhaps indicators that your 
speculation is incorrect -- reassigning variables is something we 
mostly live quite happily without.

Regards,
Wendell

> *Goes away for 3 days to understand how Dimitre's solution actually works*
(Or come to Extreme Markup Languages next month in Montreal, where 
Dimitre will happily explain it to you. :-)