"element" and "attribute" - Constructing Output Elements

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<< XML Tutorials - Herong's Tutorial Notes

This section provides a tutorial example on how to generate transformation output in XML format. The second approach is to construct new elements using XSLT 'element' and 'attribute' elements in the transformation template.

As mentioned in the previous section, the second way to generate output XML elements is to use "element", "attribute", "text", and "comment" elements to construct new elements in the transformation template.

"element": A child element used as part of the content of a "template" element. An "element" element serves as an output statement, which will be evaluated to generate an XML element. The syntax of the "element" element is:

<element name="element_name">
 content
</element>

where "element_name" is used to define the name of the element to be generated, and "content" contains other XSLT elements or literals to define attributes, child elements and/or text content of the element to be generated.

"attribute": A child element used inside an "element" element. An "attribute" element serves as an output statement, which will be evaluated to generate an attribute inside its parent element. The syntax of the "attribute" element is:

<attribute name="attribute_name">
 attribute_value
</attribute>

where "attribute_name" is used to define the name of the attribute to be generated, and "attribute_value" contains other XSLT elements or literals to define the value of the attribute to be generated.

"text": A child element used inside an "element" element. An "text" element serves as an output statement, which will be evaluated to generate a text child inside its parent element. The syntax of the "text" element is:

<text>
 content
</text>

where "content" is used to define the content of the text child to be generated.

"comment": A child element used inside an "element" element. An "comment" element serves as an output statement, which will be evaluated to generate a comment inside its parent element. The syntax of the "comment" element is:

<comment>
 content
</comment>

where "content" is used to define the content of the comment to be generated.

Let's see an example of using "element", "attribute", "text" and "comment" elements to construct output XML elements.

Here is the source XML document, output_xml.xml:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<user name="Herong">
 <role>administrator</role>
 Administrator can delete users.
 <point>100</point>
 Points are earned by posting messages.
</user>

Here is the transformation template that constructs some new elements:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
   xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:output method="xml"/>
<xsl:template match="user">
 <xsl:element name="profile">
  <xsl:attribute name="role">operator</xsl:attribute>
  <xsl:element name="rank">2</xsl:element>
  <xsl:text>Rank can be demoted.</xsl:text>
  <xsl:element name="name">Jack</xsl:element>
  <xsl:text>Name is optional.</xsl:text>
  <xsl:comment>End of profile</xsl:comment>
 </xsl:element>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

Run XSLTransformer.java to perform the transformation, you should get:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?> 
<profile role="operator">
 <rank>2</rank> 
 Rank can be demoted. 
 <name>Jack</name> 
 Name is optional. 
 <!-- End of profile
 --> 
</profile>

The output looks good. All 3 XML elements are constructed in the result XML document correctly.

Sections in This Chapter

"output" - The Output Format Control Element

Generating Transformation Output in XML Format

"element" and "attribute" - Constructing Output Elements

"copy" - Copy Elements from Source to Result

Copying Attributes and Texts