Use XSLT to display multiple attributes with same name

Question

I'm rather new to the world of xml and xslt. What I am wanting to do is use an xslt to return all the error messages generated in an xml file, there are many error messages under each parent.

Here's an example of the XML file:

   <progress_file>
        <read_leg>
            <info>Successfully read face ID 225</info>
            <info>successfully read face ID 226</info>
            <error>unable to read face ID 227</error>
            <error>unable to read face ID 228</error>
        </read_leg>
        <write_leg>
            <info>Successfully created face ID 225</info>
            <info>successfully created face ID 226</info>
            <error>unable to write face ID 227</error>
            <error>unable to write face ID 228</error>
        </write_leg>
    </progress_file>

The XSLT used is:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:template match="/">
      <xsl:for-each select="progress_file/read_leg">
        <xsl:value-of select="error"/>
      </xsl:for-each>
      <xsl:for-each select="progress_file/write_leg">
        <xsl:value-of select="error"/>
      </xsl:for-each>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

The output only returns the first value from each area. I gather that this is what the logic implies, i.e. "for each write leg, return the error message" and this doesn't mean it checks if there are multiple cases.

I haven't seen anywhere that has multiple attributes with the same name and I haven't come across and XSL element that can work with this, so I'm a bit stuck. Any suggestions on how this is possible?

One further question, is it possible to get line breaks in between the output lines?

Thanks.

@EeroHelenius Please do not edit OP's code; you don't know if the original is correct. — michael.hor257k
– michael.hor257k, Commented Jul 14, 2014 at 14:17
@michael.hor257k: My apologies, and thanks for pointing it out. I was just assuming that there was a typo in the code since it didn't correspond with the sample input. But you're right, it's probably not safe to make such assumptions — I'll know better in the future. — Eero Helenius
– Eero Helenius, Commented Jul 14, 2014 at 14:22

Eero Helenius · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-14 14:26:13Z

3

Here's one option:

Stylesheet

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>

<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
  <xsl:output method="text" version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"/>

  <!-- The XML entity for a line feed -->
  <xsl:variable name="linefeed" select="'&#10;'"/>

  <!-- Match the root node -->
  <xsl:template match="/">
    <!-- Apply templates for all <error> nodes. -->
    <xsl:apply-templates select="progress_file/read_leg/error | progress_file/write_leg/error"/>
  </xsl:template>

  <xsl:template match="error">
    <!-- Concatenate the value of the current node and a line feed. -->
    <xsl:value-of select="concat(., $linefeed)"/>
  </xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

Output

unable to read face ID 227
unable to read face ID 228
unable to write face ID 227
unable to write face ID 228

edited Jul 14, 2014 at 14:26

answered Jul 14, 2014 at 14:03

Eero Helenius

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7 Comments

Matthew Green Over a year ago

You can shorten your match down to progress_file/*/error assuming he wants all potential error elements under progress_file processed.

Tomalak Over a year ago

"read_leg first and then write_leg" is a misconception. It's irrelevant in what order you select nodes, the resulting node set will always be in document order in XSLT. (BTW, this is true for XSLT 2.0 as well: A single XPath expression will yield a sequence in document order. However, you can build custom-ordered sequences, too.)

michael.hor257k Over a year ago

@MatthewGreen Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

Eero Helenius Over a year ago

@Tomalak: You're absolutely right, thanks for pointing it out. I was thinking of , instead of |.

Ben Over a year ago

Thankyou, this outputs the correct data. But the line feed option doesn't work. I've opened the XML in IE and tried using the TryIt editor on W3 schools site link adn all the info appears on one line. Any idea's on why this is the case?

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