Evaluates the children of the current node. $apply-templates recursively processes the children. If a template has no $apply-templates(), then the children are ignored.

attribute	meaning
select	An XPath select pattern selecting the nodes to evaluate next. (optional)
mode	only selects templates with the given mode

The following example writes the 'a' nodes followed by the 'b' nodes and ignores everything else.

$template(double) << $apply-templates(a); $apply-templates(b); >>

<double> <b>b1</b> <a>a1</a> <b>b2</b> <a>a2</a> </double>

a1 a2 b1 b2

Adds an attribute to the element. The name can be computed using an attribute value template.

Attribute	Meaning
name	Name of the new attribute.

$template(a) << <c> $attribute (b{@id}) << $value-of(c{@id}); >> </c> >>

<c b3='c3'/>

Copies the current node, but not children or attributes, to the output.

To copy an element, a stylesheet must copy the attributes as well.

The following example is the identity stylesheet. It copies input to the output including the attributes.

$template(@*|node()) << $copy() << $apply-templates(@*|node()); >> >>

Executes the template if test is true.

$template(signal) << $if (@color="red") <<stop>> $else if (@color="green") <<go>> $else <<yield>> >>

<signal color="green"/> <signal color="ultramaroon"/> <signal color="red"/>

go yield stop

Controls the output printing.

Attribute	Meaning
method	xml or html or text. Select printing method
version	XML version
encoding	character set to print the results
omit-xml-declaration	skip the XML or HTML declaration
indent	pretty-print or not
media-type	mime-type
disable-output-escaping	'<' gets printed as '<', not '&lt;'

Establishes a pattern and replacement text. $template registers its pattern with the XSL processing engine. When a node matches the pattern, XSL will process the contents of the template.

Pure XSL processes the contents slightly differently than XTP. XSL expects all tags to be valid XML. XTP is more forgiving. If the tag is not one of those defined by XSL, it will treat the tag as raw text.

attribute	meaning
match	the XPath match pattern (required)
mode	string grouping templates into a special mode
name	Name for later use by call-template
priority	conflict-resolving priority, an integer

In the following example, the template matches any 'box' tag. The contents of the box are placed in a centered table 80% of the current width.

$template(box) << <center> <table width='80%'> <tr><td> $apply-templates(); </td></tr> </table> </center> >>

<p>Here's a boxed quote,</p> <box> To be or not to be... </box>

<p>Here's a boxed quote,</p> <center> <table width='80%'> <tr><td> To be or not to be... </td></tr> </table> </center>

Writes a calculated value output.

value-of is particularly useful for extracting attribute values. The following example creates a JSP tag which adds two numbers.

$template(ct:sum) << <jsp:expression> $value-of(@a); + $value-of(@b); </jsp:expression> >>

Like Java's super, calls the overridden template.

Defines a named attribute set. The attributes in the set are defined by xsl:attribute elements.

Attribute	Meaning
name	Name of the attribute set.

$attribute-set(font) << $attribute(font-size) <<12pt>> $attribute(font-weight) <<bold>> >> $template(a) << <c xsl:use-attribute-sets='font'/> >>

<c font-size='12pt' font-weight='bold'/>

Calls a named template with the current node. $call-template lets stylesheets reuse common code, like functions. It works like $apply-templates(.); except that it calls based on a template name.

Attribute	Meaning
name	template name to call
mode	template mode

Implements a select block. The $when statements are tested in order. The first matching one is executed. If none match, the $otherwise block is executed.

Attribute	Meaning
test	XPath expression evaluating to a boolean.

$template(a) << $choose() << $when(@color="red") <<stop>> $when(@color="green") <<go>> $otherwise() <<yield>> >> >>

Creates a new comment. The contents of the $comment() element become the contents of the comment.

$template(a) << $comment() << Text for the comment. >> >>

<!-- Text for the comment. -->

Copies a sub-tree into the output. $copy-of resembles $value-of. value-of always converts the value to a string. copy-of will copy subtrees.

attribute	meaning
select	An XPath expression to be copied.

Creates a new element. The name can be computed using an attribute value template.

Attribute	Meaning
name	Name of the new element.

$template(a) << $element(b{@id}) << <c/> >> >>

<a id="3"/>

<b3><c/></b3>

Loops over child select patterns. $for-each() gives stylesheets complete control over the actions for child nodes.

Usually, stylesheets will want to use the full pattern matching capability given by XSL. Sometimes the specific structure is known, like sections in a chapter. When generating a table of contents, it may be easier to scan over the sections.

$template(contents) << <ol> $for-each(section) << <li>$value-of(@title);</li> >> </ol> >>

Imports a stylesheet. $import lets stylesheets borrow from each other.

Attribute	Meaning
href	Path to the imported stylesheet

Declares an XSL parameter. $param's select parameter as a default. If the variable has been assigned, it uses the old value.

Attribute	Meaning
name	variable name
select	variable value

$template(name=>fun) << $param(foo, select=>15); $value-of($foo); >> $template(a) << $call-template(fun) << $with-param(foo, select=>1+2); >> >>

3

Creates a new processing instruction.

Attribute	Meaning
name	Processing instruction name.

$template(a) << $processing-instruction(foo) << Text for the PI. >> >>

<?foo Text for the PI?>

Sorts nodes in $apply-templates or $for-each.

Attribute	Meaning
select	value to sort on (default = '.')
order	ascending or descending (default = ascending)
data-type	text or number (default = text)

Note: case-order is not implemented

Writes the contents to the output. $text is useful when you need to force spacing or special text. Usually, XSLT-lite will produce the text you expect. $text is there for the strange cases when you need full control.

Assignes an XSL variable. Variables can be retrieved using the XPath variable syntax.

Attribute	Meaning
name	variable name
select	variable value

$variable(foo, select=>1+1); $template(a) << $value-of($foo); >>

2

Prints the value of the Java expression, expr. Stylesheets can use any Java expression. The following variables are pre-defined in stylesheets.

Variable	Meaning
node	The current org.w3c.dom.Node.
out	The com.caucho.xsl.XslWriter.

In addition, the out variable gives access to the servlet PageContext with the page property.

$template(welcome-user) << $text() <<Welcome back, >> $scriptlet() << String user = "Harry"; >> $expr(user); >>

Executes the statement_list scriptlet. The JavaScript code can be any statement list. The same implicit variables are allowed in scriptlets as in expressions.

The following example creates a number of stars:

$template(ct:stars) << $scriptlet() << int count = Integer.parseInt(node.getAttribute("count")); for (int i = 0; i < count; i++) out.print('*'); >> >>

1 = <ct:stars count='1'/> 9 = <ct:stars count='9'/>

1 = * 9 = *********

Adds declaration code, i.e. code outside of any function.

$declaration << double dist(double x1, double y1, double x2, double y2) { return Math.sqrt((x1 - x2) * (x1 - x2) + (y1 - y2) * (y1 - y2)); } >>

Sets page directives.

name	meaning
language	script language, default Java
session	use sessions, default false
errorPage	page to display for errors
errorPage	page to display for errors
import	imports Java packages
contentType	content-type of the generated page

$value-of shortcut prints the value of the XPath expression.

The value-of syntax is equivalent to:

$value-of(expr);

$expression shortcut prints the value of expression using the page's scripting language.

The expression syntax is equivalent to:

$expr(expression);

$scriptlet shortcut executes the statements using the page's scripting language.

The scriptlet is any statement list in the language, e.g. Java.

The scriptlet syntax is equivalent to

$scriptlet() << scriptlet >>

$declaration shortcut defines functions and variables.

The declaration syntax is equivalent to:

$declaration() << declaration >>

<#! function dist(x1, y1, x2, y2) { return Math.sqrt((x1 - x2) * (x1 - x2) + (y1 - y2) * (y1 - y2)); } #> ct:dist << ($(@x1),$(@y1)) to ($(@x2),$(@y2)) = <#= dist(node.attribute.x1, node.attribute.y1, node.attribute.x2, node.attribute.y2) #> >>

<ct:dist x1='0' y1='0' x2='5' y2='12'/>

(0,0) to (5,12) = 13