Hi,

Is there a way to count the number of lines that would be in the output file?

Thanks

mmm.. so i guess this is not possible?

A better explanation/example of what it is you are trying to achieve might provoke a better response.
For example are you outputting html / text ??

outputting text.

Basically I would like to know a count of lines that I have outputted.

Alternatively, in the xslt, there is actually only one dynamic part, and i was wondering what is the easiest way to count the number of lines there.

It depends on the data, you could calculate how many lines are going to be output using XPath functions.

You could also use the xsl:number element to number the lines as they are output but you might not want them numbered.

If neither of those is possible then you'll have to resort to a non XSLT method, e.g. open the file using standard file io methods.

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Joe (Microsoft MVP - XML)

This kind of problem is best addressed by adding a second stylesheet to your processing pipeline; the second stylesheet simply counts the number of lines in its input document.

The way you implement a pipeline of stylesheets depends on the environment you are running in, but it's a very useful technique whatever the environment.

Michael Kay
http://www.saxonica.com/
Author, XSLT Programmer's Reference and XPath 2.0 Programmer's Reference

Can this be done when the first output is a text file though?

--

Joe (Microsoft MVP - XML)

No, in a processing pipeline each stage except the last produces a result tree which acts as the source tree for the next phase. The last phase can serialize as text. But you only need to wrap the text in a dummy element to make it a valid XML tree.

Michael Kay
http://www.saxonica.com/
Author, XSLT Programmer's Reference and XPath 2.0 Programmer's Reference