XSLT for Dummies

Like adding elements to your result document, you can add attributes in one of two ways. You can create attributes both through literal text as well as the xsl:attribute instruction.

Using literal text

Using the literal text method, I can add a currency attribute to the price element of the coffee-light.xml document by using the following stylesheet:

<!-- coffee-addattribute_literal.xsl --> <xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version="1.0"> <!-- Add currency attribute --> <xsl:template match="coffee"> <coffee> <taste><xsl:value-of select="taste"/></taste> <price currency="$US"><xsl:value-of select="price"/></price> <availability><xsl:value-of select="availability"/></availability> <bestwith><xsl:value-of select="taste"/></bestwith> </coffee> </xsl:template> </xsl:stylesheet>

The XML produced from the transformation is as follows :

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <coffee> <taste>Curiously Mild And Bland</taste> <price currency="$US">11.99</price> <availability>Year-round</availability> <bestwith>Curiously Mild And Bland</bestwith> </coffee>

Using xsl:attribute

The xsl:attribute can also be used to create an attribute. In the following example, I am creating a new salesevent element as a child of the coffee element, which has quarter , usregion , and supplier attributes:

<!-- coffee-addattribute_inst.xsl --> <xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version="1.0"> <!-- Add attribute using xsl:attribute instruction --> <xsl:template match="coffee"> <coffee> <taste><xsl:value-of select="taste"/></taste> <price currency="$US"><xsl:value-of select="price"/></price> <availability><xsl:value-of select="availability"/></availability> <bestwith><xsl:value-of select="taste"/></bestwith> <xsl:element name="salesevent"> <xsl:attribute name="quarter">Q3</xsl:attribute> <xsl:attribute name="usregion">New England</xsl:attribute> <xsl:attribute name="supplier">Horacio Zeeman</xsl:attribute> </xsl:element> </coffee> </xsl:template> </xsl:stylesheet>

The result is shown here:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <coffee> <taste>Curiously Mild And Bland</taste> <price currency="$US">11.99</price> <availability>Year-round</availability> <bestwith>Curiously Mild And Bland</bestwith> <salesevent quarter="Q3" usregion="New England" supplier="Horacio Zeeman"/> </coffee>