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Re: [xsl] how to create variable by comparing two variables using [not]

2018-10-15 09:19:07
XSLT 3 only Mike?

Dave P


On Mon, 15 Oct 2018 at 15:08, Michael Kay mike(_at_)saxonica(_dot_)com
<xsl-list-service(_at_)lists(_dot_)mulberrytech(_dot_)com> wrote:

These days you can do

<xsl:message use-when="$DEBUG" ....>

with $DEBUG defined as a static parameter.

<xsl:param name="DEBUG" as="xs:boolean" static="true" select="false()"/>

No need for the run-time check with xsl:if.

You can also use xsl:assert to define assertions. In Saxon, assertion 
checking can be enabled from the command line using -ea.

Michael Kay
Saxonica

On 15 Oct 2018, at 14:54, Dave Pawson 
dave(_dot_)pawson(_at_)gmail(_dot_)com 
<xsl-list-service(_at_)lists(_dot_)mulberrytech(_dot_)com> wrote:

MIght even surround it with
<xsl:if test="$debug">

To ease insertion / removal when testing?

HTH
On Mon, 15 Oct 2018 at 14:31, Wendell Piez wapiez(_at_)wendellpiez(_dot_)com
<xsl-list-service(_at_)lists(_dot_)mulberrytech(_dot_)com> wrote:

Eliot writes:

I also depend heavily on using messages to test my assumptions.

For example, I might do something like:

<xsl:message>+ [DEBUG] jpeg_few={$jpeg_few => string-join(', 
')}</xsl:message>
<xsl:message>+ [DEBUG] jpeg_many={$jpeg_many => string-join(', 
')}</xsl:message>

This is a key technique when developing XSLT. The language is designed
to "fail gracefully" most of the time -- which puts the burden on the
programmer to ensure things don't fail catastrophically. :-)

Cheers, Wendell

On Sun, Oct 14, 2018 at 7:10 PM Eliot Kimber 
ekimber(_at_)contrext(_dot_)com
<xsl-list-service(_at_)lists(_dot_)mulberrytech(_dot_)com> wrote:

Looking at the XPath 3 Functions and Operators specification and 
searching on "intersect" (hoping to also find "disjoint") I find this 
discussion:

D.4.2.3 eg:value-except
eg:value-except(        $arg1    as xs:anyAtomicType*,
$arg2    as xs:anyAtomicType*) as xs:anyAtomicType*
This function returns a sequence containing all the distinct items that 
appear in $arg1 but not in $arg2, in an arbitrary order.

XSLT implementation

<xsl:function name="eg:value-except" as="xs:anyAtomicType*">
 <xsl:param name="arg1" as="xs:anyAtomicType*"/>
 <xsl:param name="arg2" as="xs:anyAtomicType*"/>
 <xsl:sequence
    select="fn:distinct-values($arg1[not(.=$arg2)])"/>
</xsl:function>Which is in 
https://www.w3.org/TR/xpath-functions-31/#other-functions (Appendix D).

So basically

distinct-values($jpeg_few[not(. = $jpeg_many)]

Should give you the answer you seek.

I agree with Mike that being obsessive about putting data types on all 
variables and function return values (and templates when the templates 
should return atomic types or specific element types) will help a lot.

If your code is working without types but failing with them it means your 
code is "working" but probably not for the reasons you think.

Working carefully through the stages of the expressions by setting each 
intermediate result into variable will help a lot.

I also depend heavily on using messages to test my assumptions.

For example, I might do something like:

<xsl:message>+ [DEBUG] jpeg_few={$jpeg_few => string-join(', 
')}</xsl:message>
<xsl:message>+ [DEBUG] jpeg_many={$jpeg_many => string-join(', 
')}</xsl:message>

Or if those lists are very long, use count() or get the first n items or 
whatever to make it clear that you're working with the values you think 
you are.

Also, remember that <xsl:value-of> ({} in string result contexts) is 
different from <xsl:sequence>, which returns the actual value, not a 
string representation.

For example, given a variable that is an attribute node, value-of will 
return string value of the attribute but xsl:sequence will return the 
attribute node and Saxon will serialize it as <attribute name="foo" 
value="bar"> (or something similar to that.

It's easy to accidently create a sequence of attributes when what you 
wanted was a sequence of strings (or visa versa) and using xsl:value-of 
can obscure that mistake.

I've also started using the XQuery-required explicating casting of values 
even though XSLT usually lets you get away with implicit casting, because 
it makes it clearer to me what my intent was (and makes it easier to copy 
XPath expressions into XQuery, if that's something you need to do).

Cheers,

Eliot
--
Eliot Kimber
http://contrext.com


On 10/14/18, 3:53 PM, "Dave Lang emaildavelang(_at_)gmail(_dot_)com" 
<xsl-list-service(_at_)lists(_dot_)mulberrytech(_dot_)com> wrote:

That error can only come from an expression that calls tokenize(). It's 
therefore clearly not your declaration of jpgs_in_xml_not_directories 
that's at fault.

   Fair enough - but when I run the transformation without that 
declaration
   everything works fine. Is there something I can do to the variables 
that
   are included in it to make the declaration work?







--
Wendell Piez | http://www.wendellpiez.com
XML | XSLT | electronic publishing
Eat Your Vegetables
_____oo_________o_o___ooooo____ooooooo_^




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Dave Pawson
XSLT XSL-FO FAQ.
Docbook FAQ.





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