xsl-list
[Top] [All Lists]

RE: [xsl] Return system's date and time

2007-05-18 08:00:03
  Speaking of format-date(), I've always wondered why this 
was an XSLT function rather than an XPath function (and even 
longer about format-number()).  Do you know why it was 
decided that formating dates was XSLT-specific?

Partly perhaps some kind of theory that XPath (and in some people's view,
XQuery) shouldn't be concerned with presentation.

Partly the fact that format-number has a dependency on xsl:decimal-format,
which is XSLT-only (and early designs of format-date were similar)

Mainly practical politics. The XQuery WG were preoccupied with deeper
issues, the kind of thing you have to get right in version 1, and wanted to
keep the language small. The XSL WG, whose users are very much concerned
with presentation, needed the functionality, and had the time to develop it
while waiting for XQuery to be finished.

Michael Kay
http://www.saxonica.com/


--~------------------------------------------------------------------
XSL-List info and archive:  http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list
To unsubscribe, go to: http://lists.mulberrytech.com/xsl-list/
or e-mail: <mailto:xsl-list-unsubscribe(_at_)lists(_dot_)mulberrytech(_dot_)com>
--~--