spacer
Yehuda Shiran December 29, 2001
Looping in XSLT
Tips: December 2001

Yehuda Shiran, Ph.D.
Doc JavaScript

Developer News
Microsoft Shows Off Silverlight 4, IE9 Plans
Metasploit Expands Vulnerability Test Framework
HyperCard Reborn?

 The amazing capability of XSLT is its ability to loop through data. You can direct XSLT to search for a specific tag, and then loop through all this tag's children. You start an XSLT loop with the <xsl:for-each> tag. You specify the data element to loop through by the select attribute of this tag. Suppose the data is as shown below, and you want to loop through the four different weeks of the first-month record. You will do it by writing:

<xsl:for-each select="//data/month[1]/week">
Besides looping, you probably want to do some useful stuff while at it. Suppose you want to prepare headers for four columns. The first column will be named W1 (for Week 1), the second column is W2, the third is W3, and the last one is W4. You can print the character W and concatenate the number of the week to it. You can pick the serial number of the week from the number attribute, through the <xsl:value-of /> tag:

<xsl:value-of select="@number"/>
Combining the opening-loop tag, the core of the loop, and the closing-loop tag looks like this:

<xsl:for-each select="//data/month[1]/week">
<TH>W<xsl:value-of select="@number"/></TH>
</xsl:for-each>
Let's add two more columns. The first column will be the string "Month\Week", and the last one will be the string "Total". As you have probably already noticed, we also format the columns in an HTML TABLE:

<TABLE>
<TR>
<TH>Month\Week</TH>
<xsl:for-each select="//data/month[1]/week">
<TH>W<xsl:value-of select="@number"/></TH>
</xsl:for-each>
<TH>Total</TH>
</TR>
</TABLE>
Here is how these column headers look like:

Here is the XML file:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="011229.xsl"?>
  <sales>
    <summary>
      <heading>MyDvd Rental Store</heading>
      <subhead>Periodical Sales Report</subhead>
      <description>Sales Report for January, February, and March of 2001</description>
    </summary>
    <data>
      <month>
        <name>January 2001</name>
        <week number="1" dvds_rented="12000" />
        <week number="2" dvds_rented="15000" />
        <week number="3" dvds_rented="18000" />
        <week number="4" dvds_rented="11000" />		  
      </month>
      <month>
        <name>February 2001</name>
        <week number="1" dvds_rented="11000" />
        <week number="2" dvds_rented="12390" />
        <week number="3" dvds_rented="10050" />
        <week number="4" dvds_rented="11200" />		  
      </month>
      <month>
	    <name>March 50</name>
        <week number="1" dvds_rented="11000" />
        <week number="2" dvds_rented="12390" />
        <week number="3" dvds_rented="10050" />
        <week number="4" dvds_rented="11200" />		  
      </month>
    </data>
  </sales>

People who read this tip also read these tips:

Look for similar tips by subject:

internet.commediabistro.comJusttechjobs.comGraphics.com

Search:

WebMediaBrands Corporate Info

Legal Notices, Licensing, Permissions, Privacy Policy.
Advertise | Newsletters | Shopping | E-mail Offers | Freelance Jobs

Solutions

Whitepapers and eBooks

Microsoft Articles: Visual Studio 2010
Adobe Article: Adobe Helps PHP Developers Create Rich Internet Applications
Microsoft Whitepaper: How Windows Server 2008 R2 Helps Optimize IT and Save You Money
Adobe Article: Java Developers Finding a Home at Adobe Flex
IBM Articles: A Smarter Business Needs Smarter Technology
Intel Xeon Processor Increases Server Efficiency and Capabilities
Intel Tech Brief: Automated Energy Efficiency for the Intelligent Enterprise
Oracle Whitepapers - Innovation for IT Leaders
Avaya Article: Communication-Enabled Mashups--Empowering Both Business Owners and IT
 Internet.com eBook: IT Manager's Guide to Social Networking
Internet.com eBook: Get Ready for Windows 7
Microsoft Article: Expression Web 3--New Features for PHP Developers
Whitepapers: Manage Your Business Infrastracture with IBM
Whitepaper: Maximize Your Storage Investment with HP
Internet.com eBook: Becoming a Better Project Manager
Microsoft Article: Stress Free and Efficient Designer/Developer Collaboration
MORE WHITEPAPERS, EBOOKS, AND ARTICLES

Webcasts

Webcast: Connecting PHP to Microsoft Technologies
Video: Microsoft Partner Program Benefits
Video: Windows Azure Debugging Tips
SAP BusinessObjects Webcast: Unlock the Power of Reporting with Crystal Reports
 IBM Webcast: Speed Business Innovation with Reduced Cost and Risk
Video: Deploy Applications on Windows Azure
MORE WEBCASTS, PODCASTS, AND VIDEOS

Downloads and eKits

Download: Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2
Downloads & Free Trials: Microsoft's New Efficiency Resource Center
Get the Windows 7 SDK
 Free Trial: Red Gate SQL Backup Pro 6
Iron Speed Designer Application Generator
MORE DOWNLOADS, EKITS, AND FREE TRIALS

Tutorials and Demos

Internet.com Hot List: Get the Inside Scoop on the Hottest IT and Developer Products
All About Botnets
 MORE TUTORIALS, DEMOS AND STEP-BY-STEP GUIDES
webref The latest from WebReference.com Browse >
Rolling Out Your Own HTML Application Version Control · HTML 5: Client-side Storage · Working with Ajax Server Extensions
Sitemap · Experts · Tools · Services · Email a Colleague · Contact FREE Newsletters > 
 The latest from internet.com
Wi-Fi Product Watch, November 2009 · Chip Market Recovering From '08 Collapse · Low-Cost Tools to Kickstart Your New Business