Using Variable for xsl:element Name

Belch · November 1st, 2007, 06:52 AM

Hi all,

I have some XSLT code that, based on certain conditions, sets a variable "tag" to one of three string values (see below)

Code:

<xsl:choose>
<xsl:when test="test1">
   <xsl:variable name="tag" select="'aaa'" />
</xsl:when>
<xsl:when test="test2">
   <xsl:variable name="tag" select="'bbb'" />
</xsl:when>
<xsl:otherwise>
   <xsl:variable name="tag" select="'ccc'" />
</xsl:otherwise>
</xsl:choose>

I then want to use the value of this "tag" variable as the name of an element, i.e.:

Code:

<xsl:element name="{$tag}">
   some text
</xsl:element>

However when I test this it claims it cannot find the variable "$tag".

I have also tried putting the xsl:choose code in a separate template that just outputs the "tag" value as text, and then calling that template within the definition of the "tag" variable just before it is used in xsl:element.
In this case it says "Illegal value used for attribute name: bbb" (bbb being the value of "tag").

Any ideas how to get the value of $tag as the xsl:element name.
Thanks,

Neil Belch
Senior Software Technician
CDL

The views opinions and judgements expressed in this message are solely those of
the author. The message contents have not been reviewed or approved by CDL.

Belch · November 1st, 2007, 06:59 AM

Ha, great first post, I've managed to fix it almost immediately myself!

For anyone interested, the solution was to create the separate template, but I didn't realise that XSLT keeps all whitespace and due to my code formatting I had line breaks which were causing the "illegal attribute" error.

Neil Belch
Senior Software Technician
CDL

The views opinions and judgements expressed in this message are solely those of
the author. The message contents have not been reviewed or approved by CDL.

samjudson · November 1st, 2007, 07:01 AM

You can't use <xsl:variable> like that - you have actually defined three variables, all of which go out of scope as soon as the <xsl:choose> finishes.

What you want is this:

<xsl:variable name="tag">
  <xsl:choose>
    <xsl:when test="test1">
      <xsl:value-of select="'aaa'"/>
   </xsl:when>
   ... etc ...
</xsl:variable>

/- Sam Judson : Wrox Technical Editor -/

Belch · November 1st, 2007, 11:29 AM

Ah I see, that explains the variable not being found.
My code is now:

Code:

<xsl:variable name="tag">
<xsl:call-template name="gettag">
<xsl:with-param name="root" select="$root" />
</xsl:call-template>
</xsl:variable>

<xsl:element name="{$tag}">
 some code..
</xsl:element>

The "root" param and variable are set elsewhere...

Within the "gettag" template a test outputs specific text which becomes the value of the "tag" variable and is subsequently created as an tag using xsl:element.

This seems to work fine..

Neil Belch
Senior Software Technician
CDL

The views opinions and judgements expressed in this message are solely those of
the author. The message contents have not been reviewed or approved by CDL.

samjudson · November 1st, 2007, 11:51 AM

As an aside, in XSLT 2.0 you could replace the whole variable/template with a <xsl:function> call in place of the name="{$tag}" attribute.

/- Sam Judson : Wrox Technical Editor -/

Belch · November 2nd, 2007, 04:28 AM

Unfortunately we're using 1.0, but if we ever upgrade I'll bear it in mind, cheers.

Neil Belch
Senior Software Technician
CDL

The views opinions and judgements expressed in this message are solely those of
the author. The message contents have not been reviewed or approved by CDL.