Templates

xsl:template

<xsl:template [match="expr" [mode="mode"]] [name="name"]> ... </xsl:template>

• A template is a rule that can be applied to a set of nodes

• Named template: The name attribute allows the template to be called using call-template
• The use of named templates is comparable to functions (including support for parameters)
• Can save the return value (the output of the template) by wrapping the <xsl:call-template> in a <xsl:variable> tag

• Either the match attribute or the name attribute must be specified
• The value of the match attribute is an XPath expression

• The mode attribute must be the same as in the corresponding <xsl:apply-templates> tag, or it must be absent in both
• The mode can be any arbitrary value
  

• To apply a template before or after the root element has been processed, create a template that matches "/"

<xsl:template match="/my_doc_root">
  ...
</xsl:template>

<xsl:template match="/">
  This text will appear before the document root has been processed.

  ... call the appropriate template here ...

  This text will appear after the document root has been processed.
</xsl:template>

<xsl:call-template name="name"/>
<xsl:template name="name">
  ...
</xsl:template>

xsl:apply-templates

<xsl:apply-templates [select="expr"] [mode="mode"]/> 
...
<xsl:template match="element_name">
  ...
</xsl:template>

• Applies a template rule to the specified nodes or, by default, to the current node
• The select attribute can be used to select specific nodes
• If no matching template is found, the built-in rule is applied to the nodes
  

• The mode attribute must be the same as in the corresponding <xsl:template> tag, or it must be absent in both
• The mode can be any arbitrary value

<xsl:apply-templates/> 
...
<xsl:template match="cd">
  Title: <span style="color:#ff0000">
    <xsl:value-of select="title"/></span><br />
  Artist: <span style="color:#ff0000">
    <xsl:value-of select="artist"/></span><br />
</xsl:template>

<xsl:apply-templates select="title"/> 
...
<xsl:template match="title">
  Title: <span style="color:#ff0000">
  <xsl:value-of select="."/></span>
  <br />
</xsl:template>

xsl:call-template

<xsl:call-template name="name"/>

• Call a named template
• The name attribute must match a name in an <xsl:template> element