variable/template question

[gabo22003]

Hello,

I need to write html "templates" for a web application. Basically I am
displaying items on a website where I may or may not have 3 pieces of
information, that being: color, size and mft. What I would like to
code is if I have the color of the item, to go ahead and display the
word Color and bring in the Color variable. If the item doesn't have
color, don't display the word Color. The same being for the remainder
of the variables. Is this possible or do I need to create multiple
templates for the variables...ie one template that just has color, one
template that has color and size, etc? (I have the variable names
coming in fine, the problem is the label --if the variable doesn't
apply to this item, I don't want to display the label )

<tr>
<td>Color:</td>
<td><VariableNameForColor></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Size:</td>
<td><VariableNameForSize></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Manufacturer:</td>
<td><VariableNameForMft></td>
</tr>

[Andy Dingley]

ga*******@yahoo.com wrote:

I need to write html "templates" for a web application.

You'll probably find XSLT to be less work to learn than even a simple
templating system would be to write.

[Jack]

Andy Dingley wrote:

ga*******@yahoo.com wrote:

>I need to write html "templates" for a web application.

You'll probably find XSLT to be less work to learn than even a simple
templating system would be to write.

I'd say that depends on what you mean by "simple". If you aren't
familiar with declarative programming, XSLT seems pretty weird. It took
me a long time to get to the point where I could get XSLT templates to
produce the desired output without many cycles of trial and error.

XSLT 2.0 is significantly more complex than XSLT 1.0, and presents a
steeper learning curve.

--
Jack.
http://www.jackpot.uk.net/

[Andy Dingley]

Jack wrote:

XSLT seems pretty weird.

I doubt I'm the only one who found XPath by far the hardest part of
XSLT to learn.

Nor is XSLT necessarily declarative. You can (and most people do) write
it in an almost entirely procedural manner. If what you're trying to
do is to replace a "templating" system, then this procedural model
works fine.

XSLT 2.0 is significantly more complex than XSLT 1.0, and presents a
steeper learning curve.

I'd say that XSLT 2 is more complex than XSLT 1, but that XPath is
still the hardest part of either. It's also 7 years on and there are a
lot more books and guides around.

[Jack]

Andy Dingley wrote:

Jack wrote:

>XSLT seems pretty weird.

I doubt I'm the only one who found XPath by far the hardest part of
XSLT to learn.

Agreed - XPath is horrible (IMO).

>
Nor is XSLT necessarily declarative. You can (and most people do)
write it in an almost entirely procedural manner. If what you're
trying to do is to replace a "templating" system, then this
procedural model works fine.

My own view is that trying to use XSLT as a procedural language is the
cause of many problems - because you can't write a stylesheet in an
"almost entirely procedural" way. Things get easier the less you rely on
the procedural hacks.
--
Jack.
http://www.jackpot.uk.net/