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Re: Arbitrary XML document merge and styling with XSLT

2003-07-16 09:41:07
Scott,

You could use import precedence to manage this requirement.  Let your main XSL
file be a driver which imports the desired template behavior based on the value
of mode.

Mike

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Scott Powell" <scotthpowell(_at_)yahoo(_dot_)com>
To: <XSL-List(_at_)lists(_dot_)mulberrytech(_dot_)com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 16, 2003 10:23 AM
Subject: [xsl] Arbitrary XML document merge and styling with XSLT


Thanks for all the advice on the site for merging
multiple XML documents into one.

In all of the samples I've seen, the merging XSLT file
applies the same templates to all source nodes.  What
if you want different styles applied to nodes with the
same name from the two documents?

Let's say page.xml lists all the xml files to merge
(see below); the mode node indicates which template
mode to use in the transformation file.  Page.xsl
contains the transformation instructions, making the
appropriate document() calls as needed.

But I've discovered that apply-templates' mode=""
value must be a constant.  All my efforts to use the
mode value from page.xml have fallen over.

Is there a way to do this sort of "generic" merge
within a single xsl file without hard-coding the match
logic or using xsl:if's?

Can name spaces help me here some how?

Of would I be better off handling this within an ASP
script?  ASP could read page.xml and then call a
series of transforms based on the <element> nodes?

Thanks for your advice and help....

Scott

======================================================
page.xml (contains a list of xml files to merge along
with a MODE element I'd like to use to dictate which
templates should be applied in the page.xsl file)
======================================================
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<page>
  <element>
    <mode>main</mode>
    <file>main_menu.xml</file>
  </element>
  <element>
    <mode>left</mode>
    <file>left_menu.xml</file>
  </element>
</page>


======================================================
page.xsl (Attempts to load each file in page.xml and
apply-templates.  But I'd like to differentiate which
templates are used for nodes with the same name where
I want different styling)
======================================================
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform";>
<xsl:output method="html"/>
<xsl:template match="page">
  <xsl:for-each select="element">
    <xsl:apply-templates select="document(file)"
mode="**** I would like to use the MODE value in the
file but all attempts to use a variable here are
rejected ****"></xsl:apply-templates>
  </xsl:for-each>
</xsl:template>


<xsl:template match="menu" mode="main">
<!-- formatting code -->
</xsl:template>

<xsl:template match="menu" mode="left">
<!-- formatting code -->
</xsl:template>



======================================================
left_menu.xml (contains a list of graphic refs for a
navigation menu)
======================================================
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE menu SYSTEM "menu.dtd">
<menu name="weddings">
  <item name="weddings_menu_how" href="index.htm">
    <icon>
      <iconOn width="101"
height="18">weddings_menu_how.gif</iconOn>
      <iconOff width="101"
height="18">weddings_menu_how_f2.gif</iconOff>
      <alt>how &amp; why</alt>
    </icon>
  </item>
</menu>

=====================================================
main_menu.xml (contains a simple list of links and
labels for a top nav bar)
=====================================================
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE menu SYSTEM "menu.dtd">
<menu>
  <item href="index.htm">
    <label>home</label>
  </item>
  <item href="../tours/subpage.asp">
    <label>travel &amp; tours</label>
  </item>
</menu>



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