XSL sort/if confusion

[otis]

Hi all,

This is a small issue to make things prettier, but we all know how important that can be!

I had an xsl:if to check if a node was the last one in a collection of nodes and if it was a horizontal divider would not be displayed underneath it. This worked a treat but now I'm trying to sort my data using xsl:sort. The if statement technically still works but now the node identified by last() could be anywhere in the output order. I only want to remove the horizontal divider at the end.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can alter my if statement to reflect this? I imagine it is going to have to check that it is the latest year/month/day against every other sibling but I can't figure out how to do this properly.

My sort:

<xsl:apply-templates select="primarycontent" mode="_1">
  <!-- Break down into components and sort ascending as a number -->
  <xsl:sort data-type="number" select="substring(detaildate,7,4)"/>
  <!-- year  -->
  <xsl:sort data-type="number" select="substring(detaildate,4,2)"/>
  <!-- month -->
  <xsl:sort data-type="number" select="substring(detaildate,1,2)"/>
  <!-- day   -->
</xsl:apply-templates>

My xsl:if that worked before:

<xsl:if test=".!=/page/primarycontent[last()]">
  <div class="divider2"></div>
</xsl:if>

Any suggestions?

[Dormilich]

idea – you could store the node set in a variable and test the variable's last element.... like <xsl:if test="$var[last()]"> (something like that)

regards

[otis]

That sounds interesting Dormilich... how would I store the sorted node set in a variable? I have to be honest, this is my first major foray into manually writing XSLT!

[Dormilich]

without any testing I'd say

<xsl:template match="..." mode="_1">
  <xsl:variable name="var" select="."/> // change name as desired
// further code here
</xsl:template>

at least that looks sensible to me (the element passed over to the template should be already sorted (that's what I assume after your apply-templates call)).

regards

PS you may have to declare the variable globally

[jkmyoung]

A couple ideas:
Use a for-each to sort, and then use apply-templates. You could pass in a parameter to see if it's the last one.
eg:

<xsl:for-each select="primarycontent"> 
  <!-- Break down into components and sort ascending as a number --> 
  <xsl:sort data-type="number" select="substring(detaildate,7,4)"/> 
  <!-- year  --> 
  <xsl:sort data-type="number" select="substring(detaildate,4,2)"/> 
  <!-- month --> 
  <xsl:sort data-type="number" select="substring(detaildate,1,2)"/> 
  <!-- day   --> 
  <xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="_1">
    <xsl:with-param name="last" select=".=last()"/>
  </xsl:apply-templates> 
</xsl:for-each>
...
...
<xsl:template match="primarycontent" mode="_1">
  <xsl:param name="last">
 

[otis]

idea – you could store the node set in a variable and test the variable's last element.... like <xsl:if test="$var[last()]"> (something like that)

regards

Unfortunately, my attempt at this meant every single one thought that it was $var[last()] because I had to put the variable declaration inside the xsl:template for the repeating group that has been sorted... so "." is a single node rather that the sorted group. I also tried "./..".

With the way it is sorted and that fact that xsl:variable is not valid within xsl:apply-templates I don't see another place to put the xsl:variable where it would be effective. Am I being really useless on this one?

jkmyoung, I don't understand your suggestion but I'll give it a try!

[jkmyoung]

Rechecked the concept. You don't even need a parameter.

<xsl:for-each select="your nodes...">
  <xsl:sort select="..."/>
  <xsl:sort select="..."/>
  <xsl:sort select="..."/>
  <xsl:apply-templates select="."/>
</xsl:for-each>
 
<xsl:template match="nodes">
...
  <xsl:if test="position() != last()">
     display your horizontal divider
  </xsl:if>
 
 

The for-each automatically reorders the nodes with the sorting. Then you can just check if the node is the last one the same way that you used to.

[otis]

Unfortunately when I try that position() and last() are always equal to 1 because you're only passing a single node to the apply-templates request.

However, I moved the if statement into the for-each as shown below and it worked a treat!

Thanks for your help guys.

<xsl:for-each select="primarycontent">
  <!-- Break date down into components and sort ascending as a number -->
  <xsl:sort data-type="number" select="substring(detaildate,7,4)"/>
  <!-- year  -->
  <xsl:sort data-type="number" select="substring(detaildate,4,2)"/>
  <!-- month -->
  <xsl:sort data-type="number" select="substring(detaildate,1,2)"/>
  <!-- day   -->
  <xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="_1" />
  <!-- Add a conditional test to hide the divider for the last entry -->
  <xsl:if test="position() != last()">
    <div class="divider2"></div>
  </xsl:if>
</xsl:for-each>