Flatten Nested XML/hierarchy using XSLT Transformation

Question

I have a nested hierarchial xml structure which is to be flattened using xsl transformation. Following is the scenario.

<company>
  <Managers>
    <Manager>
       <Name>Matt</Name>
       <ID>1</ID>
       <Manager>
          <Name>Joe</Name>
          <ID>11</ID>
          <Manager>
          <Name>Dave</Name>
          <ID>111</ID>
       </Manager>
       </Manager>
    </Manager>
    <Manager>
        <Name>mike</Name>
          <ID>2</ID>>
    </Manager>
  </Managers>
</company>

result:

Matt 1
Joe 11
Dave 111
Mike 2

So have you tried anything? Read any tutorials? What is your difficulty, exactly? — user201891
– user201891, Commented Apr 1, 2015 at 14:52
Hmm. Yeah. I kinda assumed the question was what's the proper XPath. The XSLT is pretty trivial. In the future, it's best to post a sample of what you've attempted — Dan Field
– Dan Field, Commented Apr 1, 2015 at 14:55
Please don't do tag spamming and restrict to tags directly related. — Jens Erat
– Jens Erat, Commented Apr 1, 2015 at 16:16

Dan Field · Accepted Answer · 2015-04-01 15:07:14Z

2

A better alternative via @Mathias Mueller,

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

    <xsl:template match="Manager">
        <xsl:value-of select="Name" />
        <xsl:text>: </xsl:text>
        <xsl:value-of select="ID" />
        <xsl:text> </xsl:text>
        <xsl:apply-templates/>
    </xsl:template>   

    <xsl:template match="text()"/>

</xsl:transform>

Why this is better: It will more properly control the text output (assuming you really do want to output this to plaintext format). It also is more XSLT template oriented, which tends to be more extensible and maintainable than having for-each loops hanging around.

Using the descendant-or-self axis:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<xsl:transform xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version="1.0">
    <xsl:output method="text" doctype-public="XSLT-compat" omit-xml-declaration="yes" encoding="UTF-8" indent="yes" />

    <xsl:template match="//Managers">
       <xsl:for-each select="descendant-or-self::Manager">
        <xsl:value-of select="Name" />: <xsl:value-of select="ID" /><xsl:text> </xsl:text>
      </xsl:for-each>
    </xsl:template>    

</xsl:transform>

Output:

  Matt: 1 Joe: 11 Dave: 111 mike: 2

http://xsltransform.net/nc4NzQB

edited Apr 1, 2015 at 15:07

answered Apr 1, 2015 at 14:50

Dan Field

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2 Comments

Mathias Müller Over a year ago

If you output a space character within xsl:text, then why not put : inside xsl:text, too? Also, I don't think there is a need to match Managers, xsltransform.net/nc4NzQB/2.

Dan Field Over a year ago

I did the space character because otherwise it gets absorbed - but the : doesn't. Your method is better though, I didn't think to use apply-templates within the template.

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