XSLT, 2nd Edition

Name

<xsl:message>

Sends a message. How the message is sent can vary from one XSLT processor to the next, but it’s typically written to the standard output device. This element is useful for debugging stylesheets.

Category

Instruction.

Required Attributes

None.

Optional Attributes

terminate

If this attribute has the value yes, the XSLT processor stops execution after issuing this message. The default value for this attribute is no; if the <xsl:message> doesn’t terminate the processor, the message is sent and processing continues.

[2.0] In XSLT 2.0, the value of the terminate attribute can be an attribute value template, allowing its value to be calculated at runtime.

[2.0] select

An XPath expression that defines the content of this message.

Content

An XSLT template.

Appears in

<xsl:message> appears inside a template.

Defined in

[1.0] XSLT section 13, “Messages.”

[2.0] XSLT section 17, “Messages.”

Example

Here’s a stylesheet that uses the <xsl:message> element to trace the transformation of an XML document. We’ll use our list of recently purchased albums again:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!-- albums.xml -->
<list xml:lang="en">
  <title>Albums I've bought recently:</title>
  <listitem>The Sacred Art of Dub</listitem>
  <listitem>Only the Poor Man Feel It</listitem>
  <listitem>Excitable Boy</listitem>
  <listitem xml:lang="sw">Aki Special</listitem>
  <listitem xml:lang="en-gb">Combat Rock</listitem>
  <listitem xml:lang="zu">Talking Timbuktu</listitem>
  <listitem xml:lang="jz">The Birth of the Cool</listitem>
</list>