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RE: Preserving inline elements when using string functions

2003-08-25 09:33:18
Hi Marcus,

in XML one doesn't think of "inline elements in strings" but of
"a string followed by an element followed by another string".

By saying "inline element" I was intending to illustrate more of what I am
trying to achieve in my output than how I'm thinking of my data structure.
I didn't write a DTD, but if I did, it would show a mixed content element
something like this:

<!ELEMENT bodytext (#PCDATA , link*)>
<!ELEMENT link (#PCDATA)>
<!ATTLIST link url CDATA #REQUIRED>

I'm trying to see what you're getting at. I'm thinking of it as "process the
child element this way, then process the parent element another way," but I
think you are suggesting that I think more like "process the parent element
content before the child element, then process the child element, then
process parent element content after the child element." Is that right?

You didn't show us how you pass the output of the link template
to the paragraphs template. Are you using two templates in a pipeline?
Or are you using node-set functions?

Show us, how you contruct the string and pass it to the paragraphs
template then someone will tell what's wrong with the code.
My first guess is you are using a xsl:for-each loop with xsl:value-of
to eleminate the "inline" elements.

Sorry, I should have had that code in my initial mail. I've tried a few
different ways to set the node context, but what's below is what I'm using
now. I'm not sure of the terminology, but I guess I'm using the two
templates in a pipeline. (Note that the 'string' paramater name is not an
accurate description of what I'm actually trying to store in that parameter
in this use of the template.)

<xsl:template name="textProcess">
    <xsl:for-each select=".">
      <xsl:call-template name="paragraphs">
           <xsl:with-param name="divClass" select="'para'" />
           <xsl:with-param name="string" >
              <xsl:call-template name="embeddedLinks" />
          </xsl:with-param>
      </xsl:call-template>
    </xsl:for-each>
</xsl:template>

Thanks, 

-- Brook


- ----------
Von:     Brook Ellingwood
Gesendet:     Samstag, 23. August 2003 02:35
An:     xsl-list(_at_)lists(_dot_)mulberrytech(_dot_)com
Betreff:     [xsl] Preserving inline elements when using string functions

Hi,

I'm trying to figure out how to preserve inline elements in a string when it
gets passed through a template using string functions to manipulate the
content. 

This is my XML:

<bodytext>This is the <link url="#">link</link>
This is another line of text</bodytext>

My first template formats the "link" element into an HTML "a" element, using
the "url" attribute as the HTML "href" attribute. I've broken the lines out
for ease of reading in e-mail):

<xsl:template name="embeddedLinks">
<xsl:apply-templates select="./node()"/>
</xsl:template>

<xsl:template match="link">
<a style="text-decoration:underline">
<xsl:attribute name="href">
<xsl:value-of select="@url"/>
</xsl:attribute>
foo
<xsl:value-of select="."/>
bar
</a>
</xsl:template>

The output of that template is then passed to another template that finds
all the CR/LF codes in the string and puts "DIV" tags around each line.

<xsl:template name="paragraphs">
<xsl:param name="string" />
<xsl:param name="linebreak" select="'&#xA;'" />
<xsl:param name="divClass" />
<xsl:choose>
<xsl:when test="contains($string, $linebreak)">
<DIV><xsl:attribute name="class"><xsl:value-of select="$divClass"
/></xsl:attribute>
<xsl:value-of select="substring-before($string, $linebreak)" />
</DIV>
<xsl:call-template name="paragraphs">
<xsl:with-param name="string"
select="substring-after($string, $linebreak)" />
<xsl:with-param name="linebreak" select="$linebreak" />
<xsl:with-param name="divClass" select="$divClass" />
</xsl:call-template>
</xsl:when>
<xsl:otherwise>
<DIV><xsl:attribute name="class"><xsl:value-of select="$divClass"
/></xsl:attribute>
<xsl:value-of select="$string" />
</DIV>
</xsl:otherwise>
</xsl:choose>
</xsl:template> 

Individually, they work great, but in combination this is what I get for my
output:

<DIV class="">This is the foolinkbar</DIV>
<DIV class=""> This is another line of text</DIV>

Note that my test "foo" and "bar" text strings are inserted into the source
text so I know the "embeddeLinks" template is working, but the "a" element
and its attributes are completely missing. They must be getting lost in the
pass through the "paragraphs" template as it ignores everything that isn't a
string. I thought about just reversing the order in which the content goes
through the templates, but then I'd lose my source "link" element the same
way I'm losing my output "a" element.

I've considered trying to use "copy-of" in the "paragraphs" template, but I
can't quite see how to do it and still find the CR/LF codes. I'd appreciate
any input that could help me figure this one out.

Thanks,

- -- Brook


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