Can an XSLT parse a string of text?

Question

This is my first time using XSLT. I'm trying to create a file that will convert an XML data file exported from a program I use to an HTML report.

One of the element's value is path to an image file, but the path generated is an absolute path such as

C:\Documents and Settings\me\Desktop\xml export\cd000402.jpg

but I want a relative path to just the file name.

Is there some way through the XLST file to parse out the file name?

Greg Hewgill · Accepted Answer · 2009-10-14T23:35:32.380

XPath contains the substring-after function which returns the string following the first occurrence of another string. This isn't enough by itself, but a template such as the following might do it:

<xsl:template name="filename-only">
    <xsl:param name="path" />
    <xsl:choose>
        <xsl:when test="contains($path, '\')">
            <xsl:call-template name="filename-only">
                <xsl:with-param name="path" select="substring-after($path, '\')" />
            </xsl:call-template>
        </xsl:when>
        <xsl:otherwise>
            <xsl:value-of select="$path" />
        </xsl:otherwise>
    </xsl:choose>
</xsl:template>

The set of string functions available is not terribly extensive, but I've found that it is good enough for most applications that you'll need in XSLT.

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 15 '09 at 02:28

2

This is a little beyond the scope of the question, but Michael Kay has an excellent paper on using XSLT 2 to parse pure text into XML.

answered Oct 15 '09 at 02:28

James Sulak

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score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 16 '09 at 13:14

2

Yes, see a general LR(1) parser implemented in XSLT 2.0. (just in 245 lines).

I have implemented with it a parser for JSON and a parser for XPath 2.0 -- entirely in XSLT.

answered Oct 16 '09 at 13:14

Dimitre Novatchev

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mjv · Answer 4 · 2009-10-15T02:16:15.807

0

XSLT with the help of XPath 2.0 and its various string functions helps it deal with this type of things.

Example:
Assuming the path [to jpg file] mentioned in question comes from an xml snippet similar to

...
<For_HTML>
   <Image1>
      <Path>C:\Documents and Settings\me\Desktop\xml export\cd000402.jpg</Path>
      <Description>Photo of the parking lot</Description>
      <Width>123</Width>
      ...
    </Image1>
</For_HTML>

XSLT snippet would look something like

<xsl:template match='//For_HTML/Image1'> 
     <img src='http://myNewServer.com/ImageBin/{substring-after(./Path,"\xml export\")}'
          alt='{./Description}'
          width=' ....  you got the idea'
     /> 
</xsl:template>

Note: didn't have time to test; but that looks about right.

edited Oct 15 '09 at 02:16

answered Oct 14 '09 at 23:17

mjv

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You can't put XSLT tags inside template file attributes. Use `{...}` instead. – Greg Hewgill Oct 15 '09 at 01:00
@Greg Man, you're good! Keeping us all honest ;-) and oft' teaching us. Thank you. Fixed and tested! – mjv Oct 15 '09 at 02:18

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 13 '13 at 16:48

0

It is possible. I've developed the following script: http://barsand.wordpress.com/2012/06/19/can-an-xslt-parse-a-string-of-text/

answered Jul 13 '13 at 16:48

Dan

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Can you maybe give a few details about your script? Link only answers are not generally useful, as some links die after some time. – Bernhard Jul 13 '13 at 17:04
Please clarify your answer – Stephan Jul 13 '13 at 17:04

Can an XSLT parse a string of text?

5 Answers5