XSLT 2.0 Programmer's Reference, 3rd Edition

by Michael Kay

• ISBN13: 9780764569098
• ISBN10: 0764569090
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-08-01
• Publisher: Wrox

Summary

What is this book about? XSLT 2.0 Programmer's Reference, 3rd Edition, is the authoritative reference guide to the language. Without using the formal and inaccessible language of the W3C specifications, it tells you exactly what every construct in the language does, and how it is intended to be used. This book is a reference rather than a tutorial; it is designed for the professional programmer who is using the language every day. It is the book that people quote when they claim that a particular product is giving the wrong answer, and the book that implementers of the language turn to when they want clarification of the specifications. At the same time, the book is readable. Reviews of the previous editions of the XSLT Programmer's Reference, which this book grew from, show that readers appreciate the background material on the design thinking behind the language, the essay on functional programming, the occasional dry wit, the gentle criticism of the language specification when appropriate, and the fact that the examples stray into a diverse range of interesting application areas.

Author Biography

<b>Michael Kay</b> has been working in the XML field since 1997; he became a member of the XSLWorking Group soon after the publication of XSLT 1.0, and took over as editor of the XSLT 2.0 specification in early 2001. He is also a member of the XQueryWorking Group. He is well known not only through previous editions of this book, but also as the developer of the open-source Saxon product, a pioneering implementation of XSLT 2.0, XPath 2.0, and XQuery 1.0.<br> The author has recently formed his own company, Saxonica Limited, to provide commercial software and services building on the success of the Saxon technology. Previously he spent three years with Software AG, working with the developers of the Tamino XML server, a leading XQuery implementation. His background is in database technology: after leaving the University of Cambridge with a Ph.D., he worked for many years with the (then) computer manufacturer ICL, developing network, relational, and object-oriented database software products as well as a text search engine, and held the position of ICL Fellow.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xxiii
Introduction	xxvii
List of Examples	xxxv
XSLT in Context	1	(42)
What is XSLT?	1	(4)
Why Version 2.0?	3	(1)
A Scenario: Transforming Music	3	(2)
How Does XSLT Transform XML?	5	(12)
XSLT and SQL: An Analogy	7	(1)
XSLT Processors	8	(1)
An XSLT 1.0 Stylesheet	9	(6)
An XSLT 2.0 Stylesheet	15	(2)
Where to Use XSLT	17	(4)
Data Conversion Applications	17	(2)
Publishing	19	(1)
When to Do the Conversion?	20	(1)
The Place of XSLT in the XML Family	21	(5)
XSLT and XSL	21	(1)
XSLT and XML	22	(2)
XSL and CSS	24	(1)
XSLT and XML Schemas	25	(1)
The History of XSL	26	(8)
Prehistory	26	(2)
The First XSL Proposal	28	(2)
The Microsoft WD-xsl Dialect	30	(1)
Saxon	31	(1)
Beyond XSLT 1.0	31	(1)
XQuery	32	(1)
XSLT 2.0 and XPath 2.0	33	(1)
XSLT 2.0 as a Language	34	(7)
Use of XML Syntax	34	(2)
No Side Effects	36	(1)
Rule-Based	37	(4)
Types Based on XML Schema	41	(1)
Summary	41	(2)
The XSLT Processing Model	43	(40)
XSLT: A System Overview	43	(5)
A Simplified Overview	43	(1)
Trees, not Documents	44	(1)
Different Output Formats	45	(2)
Multiple Inputs and Outputs	47	(1)
The Tree Model	48	(11)
XML as a Tree	48	(3)
Nodes in the Tree Model	51	(5)
What Does the Tree Leave Out?	56	(3)
The Transformation Process	59	(12)
Invoking a Transformation	59	(1)
Template Rules	60	(1)
Sequence Constructors	61	(4)
Push Processing	65	(3)
Controlling Which Nodes to Process	68	(2)
Modes	70	(1)
Built-In Template Rules	70	(1)
Conflict Resolution Policy	71	(1)
Error Handling	71	(1)
Variables and Expressions	72	(10)
Variables	73	(1)
Parameters	74	(1)
Data Types	74	(2)
Expressions	76	(2)
Context	78	(1)
Temporary Trees	79	(3)
Summary	82	(1)
Stylesheet Structure	83	(62)
Changes in XSLT 2.0	84	(1)
The Modular Structure of a Stylesheet	84	(7)
The <xsl:stylesheet> Element	91	(2)
The <?xml-stylesheet?> Processing Instruction	93	(2)
Embedded Stylesheets	95	(3)
Declarations	98	(5)
XSLT-Defined Declarations	99	(1)
Implementor-Defined Declarations	100	(1)
User-Defined Top-Level Elements	101	(2)
Instructions	103	(16)
XSLT Instructions	103	(2)
Extension Instructions	105	(1)
Literal Result Elements	106	(10)
Attribute Value Templates	116	(3)
Simplified Stylesheets	119	(2)
Writing Portable Stylesheets	121	(15)
Conditional Compilation	122	(1)
Version Compatibility	123	(5)
Extensibility	128	(8)
Whitespace	136	(8)
Whitespace Nodes in the Stylesheet	141	(1)
The Effect of Stripping Whitespace Nodes	141	(1)
Solving Whitespace Problems	142	(2)
Summary	144	(1)
Stylesheets and Schemas	145	(28)
XML Schema: An Overview	145	(9)
Simple Type Definitions	146	(2)
Elements with Attributes and Simple Content	148	(1)
Elements with Mixed Content	149	(1)
Elements with Element-Only Content	150	(1)
Substitution Groups	151	(3)
Declaring Types	154	(5)
Validating the Source Document	159	(1)
Validating the Result Document	160	(3)
Validating a Temporary Tree	163	(1)
Validating Individual Elements	164	(3)
Validating Individual Attributes	167	(1)
The default-validation Attribute	168	(1)
Importing Schemas	168	(2)
Using xsi:type	170	(1)
Nillability	171	(1)
Summary	171	(2)
XSLT Elements	173	(320)
xsl:analyze-string	176	(8)
Changes in 2.0	176	(1)
Format	177	(1)
Effect	178	(3)
Usage and Examples	181	(3)
See Also	184	(1)
xsl:apply-imports	184	(3)
Changes in 2.0	184	(1)
Format	184	(1)
Effect	185	(1)
Usage and Examples	185	(2)
See Also	187	(1)
xsl:apply-templates	187	(14)
Changes in 2.0	187	(1)
Format	187	(1)
Effect	188	(5)
Usage and Examples	193	(8)
See Also	201	(1)
xsl:attribute	201	(13)
Changes in 2.0	201	(1)
Format	201	(1)
Effect	202	(6)
Usage	208	(3)
Examples	211	(3)
See Also	214	(1)
xsl:attribute-set	214	(6)
Changes in 2.0	214	(1)
Format	214	(1)
Effect	215	(2)
Usage	217	(1)
Examples	217	(3)
See Also	220	(1)
xsl:call-template	220	(9)
Changes in 2.0	220	(1)
Format	220	(1)
Effect	221	(1)
Usage and Examples	222	(7)
See Also	229	(1)
xsl:character-map	229	(7)
Changes in 2.0	229	(1)
Format	229	(1)
Effect	230	(2)
Usage and Examples	232	(4)
See Also	236	(1)
xsl:choose	236	(2)
Changes in 2.0	236	(1)
Format	236	(1)
Effect	236	(1)
Usage	237	(1)
Examples	237	(1)
See Also	238	(1)
xsl:comment	238	(2)
Changes in 2.0	238	(1)
Format	238	(1)
Effect	239	(1)
Usage	239	(1)
Examples	240	(1)
xsl:copy	240	(5)
Changes in 2.0	241	(1)
Format	241	(1)
Effect	242	(1)
Usage	243	(1)
Examples	244	(1)
See Also	244	(1)
xsl:copy-of	245	(6)
Changes in 2.0	245	(1)
Format	245	(1)
Effect	246	(1)
Usage and Examples	247	(4)
See Also	251	(1)
xsl:decimal-format	251	(6)
Changes in 2.0	252	(1)
Format	252	(1)
Effect	253	(2)
Usage	255	(1)
Examples	255	(2)
See Also	257	(1)
xsl:document	257	(3)
Changes in 2.0	257	(1)
Format	257	(1)
Effect	258	(2)
Usage and Examples	260	(1)
See Also	260	(1)
xsl:element	260	(11)
Changes in 2.0	260	(1)
Format	261	(1)
Effect	261	(8)
Usage and Examples	269	(2)
See Also	271	(1)
xsl:fallback	271	(5)
Changes in 2.0	271	(1)
Format	271	(1)
Effect	272	(1)
Usage	273	(1)
Examples	274	(2)
See Also	276	(1)
xsl:for-each	276	(5)
Changes in 2.0	276	(1)
Format	277	(1)
Effect	277	(2)
Usage and Examples	279	(2)
See Also	281	(1)
xsl:for-each-group	281	(19)
Changes in 2.0	281	(1)
Format	281	(1)
Effect	282	(4)
Usage and Examples	286	(14)
See Also	300	(1)
xsl:function	300	(9)
Changes in 2.0	300	(1)
Format	300	(1)
Effect	301	(2)
Usage and Examples	303	(6)
See Also	309	(1)
xsl:if	309	(3)
Changes in 2.0	309	(1)
Format	309	(1)
Effect	309	(1)
Usage	310	(1)
Examples	311	(1)
See Also	312	(1)
xsl:import	312	(12)
Changes in 2.0	312	(1)
Format	312	(1)
Effect	313	(6)
Usage	319	(1)
Examples	320	(4)
See Also	324	(1)
xsl:import-schema	324	(4)
Changes in 2.0	324	(1)
Format	325	(1)
Effect	325	(1)
Usage	326	(2)
Examples	328	(1)
xsl:include	328	(4)
Changes in 2.0	328	(1)
Format	328	(1)
Effect	329	(1)
Usage and Examples	330	(2)
See Also	332	(1)
xsl:key	332	(10)
Changes in 2.0	332	(1)
Format	332	(1)
Effect	333	(2)
Usage and Examples	335	(7)
See Also	342	(1)
xsl:matching-substring	342	(1)
Changes in 2.0	342	(1)
Format	342	(1)
Effect	343	(1)
Usage and Examples	343	(1)
See Also	343	(1)
xsl:message	343	(3)
Changes in 2.0	343	(1)
Format	343	(1)
Effect	344	(1)
Usage	344	(1)
Examples	345	(1)
See Also	346	(1)
xsl:namespace	346	(4)
Changes in 2.0	347	(1)
Format	347	(1)
Effect	347	(1)
Usage and Examples	348	(2)
See Also	350	(1)
xsl:namespace-alias	350	(5)
Changes in 2.0	350	(1)
Format	350	(1)
Effect	351	(1)
Usage and Examples	352	(3)
See Also	355	(1)
xsl:next-match	355	(3)
Changes in 2.0	355	(1)
Format	355	(1)
Effect	356	(1)
Usage and Examples	357	(1)
See Also	358	(1)
xsl:non-matching-substring	358	(1)
Changes in 2.0	359	(1)
Format	359	(1)
Effect	359	(1)
Usage and Examples	359	(1)
See Also	359	(1)
xsl:number	359	(15)
Changes in 2.0	360	(1)
Format	360	(1)
Effect	361	(6)
Usage and Examples	367	(7)
See Also	374	(1)
xsl:otherwise	374	(1)
Changes in 2.0	374	(1)
Format	374	(1)
Effect	374	(1)
Usage and Examples	375	(1)
See Also	375	(1)
xsl:output	375	(16)
Changes in 2.0	375	(1)
Format	375	(2)
Effect	377	(13)
Usage	390	(1)
Examples	391	(1)
See Also	391	(1)
xsl:output-character	391	(1)
Changes in 2.0	391	(1)
Format	392	(1)
Effect	392	(1)
See Also	392	(1)
xsl:param	392	(13)
Changes in 2.0	393	(1)
Format	393	(1)
Effect	394	(3)
Usage	397	(2)
Examples	399	(5)
See Also	404	(1)
xsl:perform-sort	405	(1)
Changes in 2.0	405	(1)
Format	405	(1)
Effect	405	(1)
Usage and Examples	406	(1)
See Also	406	(1)
xsl:preserve-space	406	(5)
Changes in 2.0	406	(1)
Format	406	(1)
Effect	407	(2)
Usage	409	(1)
Examples	410	(1)
See Also	411	(1)
xsl:processing-instruction	411	(3)
Changes in 2.0	411	(1)
Format	411	(1)
Effect	411	(1)
Usage	412	(1)
Examples	413	(1)
xsl:result-document	414	(6)
Changes in 2.0	414	(1)
Format	414	(1)
Effect	415	(2)
Usage	417	(1)
Examples	417	(2)
See Also	419	(1)
xsl:sequence	420	(3)
Changes in 2.0	420	(1)
Format	420	(1)
Effect	420	(1)
Usage and Examples	421	(1)
See Also	422	(1)
xsl:sort	423	(9)
Changes in 2.0	423	(1)
Format	423	(1)
Effect	424	(5)
Usage	429	(2)
Examples	431	(1)
See Also	432	(1)
xsl:strip-space	432	(1)
Changes in 2.0	433	(1)
Format	433	(1)
Effect, Usage, and Examples	433	(1)
See Also	433	(1)
xsl:stylesheet	433	(17)
Changes in 2.0	434	(1)
Format	434	(3)
Effect	437	(8)
Usage and Examples	445	(5)
See Also	450	(1)
xsl:template	450	(9)
Changes in 2.0	451	(1)
Format	451	(1)
Effect	452	(3)
Usage and Examples	455	(4)
See Also	459	(1)
xsl:text	459	(6)
Changes in 2.0	460	(1)
Format	460	(1)
Effect	460	(1)
Usage	460	(5)
See Also	465	(1)
xsl:transform	465	(1)
Format	465	(1)
See Also	465	(1)
xsl:value-of	465	(6)
Changes in 2.0	465	(1)
Format	465	(1)
Effect	466	(1)
Usage	467	(3)
Examples	470	(1)
See Also	471	(1)
xsl:variable	471	(16)
Changes in 2.0	471	(1)
Format	471	(1)
Effect	472	(5)
Usage	477	(1)
Examples	477	(10)
See Also	487	(1)
xsl:when	487	(1)
Changes in 2.0	487	(1)
Format	487	(1)
Effect	487	(1)
Usage and Examples	488	(1)
See Also	488	(1)
xsl:with-param	488	(3)
Changes in 2.0	489	(1)
Format	489	(1)
Effect	489	(1)
Usage and Examples	490	(1)
See Also	491	(1)
Summary	491	(2)
Patterns	493	(30)
Changes in XSLT 2.0	494	(1)
The Format Definition	495	(2)
Patterns Containing Predicates	497	(1)
An Informal Definition	497	(1)
Conflict Resolution	498	(2)
Matching Parentless Nodes	500	(1)
The Syntax of Patterns	501	(21)
Pattern	502	(1)
PathPattern	503	(2)
RelativePathPattern	505	(2)
PatternStep	507	(11)
IdKeyPattern	518	(4)
Summary	522	(1)
XSLT Functions	523	(72)
current	526	(3)
Changes in 2.0	526	(1)
Signature	526	(1)
Effect	526	(1)
Usage	527	(1)
Example	527	(2)
current-group	529	(1)
Changes in 2.0	529	(1)
Signature	530	(1)
Effect	530	(1)
Usage and Examples	530	(1)
See Also	530	(1)
current-grouping-key	530	(2)
Changes in 2.0	531	(1)
Signature	531	(1)
Effect	531	(1)
Usage and Examples	531	(1)
See Also	532	(1)
document	532	(10)
Changes in 2.0	532	(1)
Signature	532	(1)
Effect	533	(9)
See Also	542	(1)
element-available	542	(6)
Changes in 2.0	543	(1)
Signature	543	(1)
Effect	543	(1)
Usage and Examples	544	(4)
See Also	548	(1)
format-date	548	(2)
Changes in 2.0	548	(1)
Signature	549	(1)
Effect	549	(1)
Usage and Examples	549	(1)
See Also	550	(1)
format-date Time	550	(8)
Changes in 2.0	550	(1)
Signature	550	(1)
Effect	551	(6)
Usage and Examples	557	(1)
See Also	558	(1)
format-number	558	(4)
Changes in 2.0	558	(1)
Signature	558	(1)
Effect	559	(2)
Usage	561	(1)
Examples	561	(1)
See Also	562	(1)
format-time	562	(2)
Changes in 2.0	562	(1)
Signature	562	(1)
Effect	563	(1)
Usage and Examples	563	(1)
See Also	564	(1)
function-available	564	(4)
Changes in 2.0	564	(1)
Signature	564	(1)
Effect	564	(1)
Usage	565	(1)
Example 1: Testing for xx:node-set() Extensions	566	(2)
Example 2: Testing Availability of a Java Method	568	(1)
See Also	568	(1)
generate-id	568	(4)
Changes in 2.0	569	(1)
Signature	569	(1)
Effect	569	(1)
Usage and Examples	569	(3)
See Also	572	(1)
key	572	(8)
Changes in 2.0	573	(1)
Signature	573	(1)
Effect	573	(1)
Usage and Examples	574	(5)
See Also	579	(1)
regex-group	580	(1)
Changes in 2.0	580	(1)
Signature	580	(1)
Effect	580	(1)
Usage and Examples	580	(1)
See Also	581	(1)
system-property	581	(3)
Changes in 2.0	581	(1)
Signature	582	(1)
Effect	582	(1)
Usage	583	(1)
Examples	584	(1)
See Also	584	(1)
unparsed-entity-public-id	584	(1)
Changes in 2.0	584	(1)
Signature	584	(1)
Effect	584	(1)
Usage	585	(1)
Examples	585	(1)
See Also	585	(1)
unparsed-entity-uri	585	(2)
Changes in 2.0	585	(1)
Signature	586	(1)
Effect	586	(1)
Usage	586	(1)
Examples	587	(1)
See Also	587	(1)
unparsed-text	587	(6)
Changes in 2.0	587	(1)
Signature	588	(1)
Effect	588	(1)
Usage and Examples	589	(4)
See Also	593	(1)
Summary	593	(2)
Extensibility	595	(18)
What Vendor Extensions Are Allowed?	595	(2)
Extension Functions	597	(14)
When Are Extension Functions Needed?	597	(1)
When Are Extension Functions not Needed?	598	(1)
Calling Extension Functions	598	(1)
What Language Is Best?	599	(1)
Client-Side Script	599	(1)
Binding Extension Functions	599	(7)
Calling External Functions within a Loop	606	(3)
Functions with Uncontrolled Side Effects	609	(2)
Keeping Extensions Portable	611	(1)
Summary	612	(1)
Stylesheet Design Patterns	613	(32)
Fill-in-the-Blanks Stylesheets	613	(3)
Navigational Stylesheets	616	(4)
Rule-Based Stylesheets	620	(5)
Computational Stylesheets	625	(18)
Programming without Assignment Statements	625	(4)
So Why Are They Called Variables?	629	(1)
Cheating	629	(1)
Avoiding Assignment Statements	630	(11)
Grouping	641	(2)
Summary	643	(2)
Case Study: XMLSpec	645	(46)
Formatting the XML Specification	646	(1)
Preface	647	(4)
Creating the HTML Outline	651	(4)
Formatting the Document Header	655	(6)
Creating the Table of Contents	661	(5)
Creating Section Headers	666	(1)
Formatting the Text	667	(3)
Producing Lists	670	(2)
Making Cross-References	672	(4)
Setting Out the Production Rules	676	(8)
Variant Stylesheets	684	(5)
diffspec.xsl	685	(2)
xslt.xsl	687	(1)
funcproto.xsl	688	(1)
xsl-query.xsl	688	(1)
Summary	689	(2)
Case Study: A Family Tree	691	(48)
Modeling A Family Tree	692	(10)
The GEDCOM Data Model	692	(3)
Creating a Schema for GEDCOM 6.0	695	(1)
The GEDCOM 6.0 Schema	696	(6)
Creating a Data File	702	(12)
Converting GEDCOM Files to XML	703	(1)
Converting from GEDCOM 5.5 to 6.0	704	(10)
Displaying the Family Tree Data	714	(24)
The Stylesheet	715	(13)
Putting it Together	728	(10)
Summary	738	(1)
Case Study: Knight's Tour	739	(16)
The Problem	739	(1)
The Algorithm	740	(4)
Placing the Knight	744	(1)
Displaying the Final Board	745	(1)
Finding the Route	746	(6)
Finding the Possible Moves	747	(2)
Trying the Possible Moves	749	(1)
Selecting the Best Move	750	(2)
Running the Stylesheet	752	(1)
Observations	752	(1)
Summary	753	(2)
Appendix A: XPath 2.0 Syntax Summary	755	(10)
Appendix B: XPath Function Library	765	(34)
Appendix C: Microsoft XSLT Processors	799	(16)
Appendix D: JAXP: The Java API for Transformation	815	(36)
Appendix E: Saxon	851	(14)
Appendix F: Backwards Compatibility	865	(4)
Glossary	869	(24)
Index	893