XML Pocket Reference, Second Edition

Name

<xsl:for-each>

Synopsis

<xsl:for-each select=”node-set-expression“/>

The xsl:for-each directive allows you to select any number of nodes in an XML document that match the same expression given by select. For example, consider the following XML document:

<book>
   <chapter>
      <title>A Mystery Unfolds</title>
      <paragraph>
      It was a dark and stormy night...
      </paragraph>
   </chapter>
   <chapter>
      <title>A Sudden Visit</title>
      <paragraph>
      Marcus found himself sleeping...
      </paragraph>
   </chapter>
</book>

Note there are two chapter siblings in the document. Let’s assume we want to provide an HTML numbered list for each title element that is the direct child of a chapter element, which in turn has a book element as a parent. The following template performs the task:

<xsl:template match="book>
   <ol>
   <xsl:for-each select="chapter">
      <li><xsl:process select="title"></li>
   </xsl:for-each>
   </ol>
</xsl:template>

After formatting, here is what the result looks like:

<ol>
<li>A Mystery Unfolds</li>
<li>A Sudden Visit</li>
</ol>

The XSLT processor processes a title element in each chapter element that is the child of a book element. The result is a numbered list of chapters that could be used for a table of contents.