Hi all,
this is kind of writing xslt's for the first time on my job.
here's my sample xml:
<root>
<record>
<level>Levels: L6, L7, L8, L9, L10, L11, L12.</level>
</record>
<record>
<level>Levels: L1, L2, L3, L4.</level>
</record>
</root>
I need to get just the last number which is 12 and 4 from level nodes and ignore the rest of the text.I tried using all string functions but of no use I cannot arrive @ the desired output.

All your help is appreciated.

Thanks a ton!

You presumably want an XSLT 1.0 solution? Text manipulation is much easier in 2.0.

You need a recursive template with the logic: if the supplied string contains a ",", call yourself recursively with substring-after($input, ',') as the parameter. Otherwise use translate($in, '. L', '') to get rid of unwanted characters, and you're left with the required number.

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

Thanks for the reply!

but it doesn't seem to work....MAY BE I'M MISSING SOMETHING FROM U R REPLY
if I first say translate L into " translate(current(),'L','')

I will have <level> 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.</level>
<level>1, 2, 3, 4.</level>

If I try to use substring-after(substring-after(current(),','),',') recursively how will
I know how many substring-after to use as I 'm having 10,000 records and each level has different lengths ex: one node has <level>L1, L2</level>

and other level nodes as above.

Please help me with fixing this.

Sounds like you haven't come across recursive programming before, at least in XSLT. Let me recommend my book...

Meanwhile, perhaps this code will make things clearer. You can run it against any source document.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="2.0"
                xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">


<xsl:template match="/">
<out>
      <xsl:call-template name="lasttoken">
        <xsl:with-param name="string" select="'L1, L2, L3, L4'" />
      </xsl:call-template>
</out>
</xsl:template>

<xsl:template name="lasttoken">
    <xsl:param name="string"/>
  <xsl:choose>
    <xsl:when test="contains($string, ',')">
      <xsl:call-template name="lasttoken">
        <xsl:with-param name="string" select="substring-after($string, ',')" />
      </xsl:call-template>
    </xsl:when>
    <xsl:otherwise>
      <xsl:value-of select="translate($string, 'L. ', '')"/>
    </xsl:otherwise>
  </xsl:choose>
</xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

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

Thank you! I think I have to get your book asap....

Just one last question I'm converting XML1 TO XML2 via XSLT.....

hence the & in XSL1 has to remain & or shud be transformed to and in XML2...

how can I do this?

If I use translate(&,and) it gets a only since & is &
so translate works character by character....

this may be a very basic ques but I don't get it

Perhaps you wrote some of the & signs as &_amp; (no underscore) and they got messed up by the mailer?

Replacing strings is a common requirement and in XSLT 2.0 there is a replace() function, but in 1.0 it's done with a recursive template. It's the same principle: if the input string contains X, output

concat(substring-before($in, X), Y, substring-after($in, X))

and then call yourself to do it again in case there are any more occurrences of X.

You can find standard reusable templates for this kind of operation at http://www.exslt.org/

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

Once again thanks for all the help!

I bought your book today....

xslt 2.0 3rd edition Programmer's reference