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Language: XSLT
Expertise: Beginner

Jul 5, 2000

Question:
I have the following code in an XML file:

	
		
			Fredonia AFB
			Russia
		
	
	
		
			Luka
			Russia
		
	
	
		
			140N4506
			64E3507
		
	
	
		
			Sevastopl
			Bosie
			140N4506
			64E3507
			Ukraine
		
	

How can I set up an XSL sheet to correctly comma delimit the children of in this file so that I get:

Russia, Fredonia AFB
Russia, Luka
140N4506, 64E3507
Ukraine, Sevastapol, Boise,140N4506,64E3507

The order should be a correct comma delimit in this order: ,,,,— if they are there.

Answer:

If you're using XSLT, this is pretty simple:

,,,,




,



,



,



,

Each primary checks to see if a given element is found and prints it. It then checks to see if there are any following elements. You could theoretically write a routine that would cycle through a list and iterate it as well, but the code to do it gets rather ridiculously complex. In this case, it's easier just to explicitly iterate through the conditions.

The use of the expression " ", by the way, inserts a carriage return into the output stream at the end of the file.