XSL sort on identity transform

imshriram · October 14th, 2011, 02:21 PM

How to perform a xsl sort on an attribute, when performing an identity transform?

Sample Input:
<A a="1"/>
<A a="3"/>
<A a="4"/>
<A a="2"/>

Expected Output:
<A a="1"/>
<A a="2"/>
<A a="3"/>
<A a="4"/>

samjudson · October 14th, 2011, 03:57 PM

Well unless every element has the exact same attribute name you wouldn't usually put sorting inside an identity template.

xsl:sort goes within either a xsl:for-each or a xsl:apply-templates, so you have to be sorting from outside the elements you are sorting. Your identity would look like this:

Code:

<xsl:template match="@*|node()">
  <xsl:copy>
    <xsl:apply-templates select="@*"/>
    <xsl:apply-templates select="node()">
      <xsl:sort select="@a"/>
    </xsl:apply-templates>
  </xsl:copy>
</xsl:template>