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XSLT Functions

This module contains functions and variables to perform XSL transformations. The standard function fn:transform uses the same processors.

By default, this module uses Java’s XSLT 1.0 Xalan implementation to transform documents. XSLT 3.0 is used if Saxon is found in the classpath. A specific transformer can be specified by assigning a classpath to the system property javax.xml.transform.TransformerFactory with the -D flag on the command line, or directly in Java:

System.setProperty(
  "javax.xml.transform.TransformerFactory",
  "org.custom.xslt.TransformerFactoryImpl");

Context ctx = new Context();
String result = new XQuery("xslt:transform('...', '...')").execute(ctx);
...
ctx.close();
The functions of this module are always invoked via the JAXP interface. If Saxon is available, fn:transform addresses it via its s9api interface instead, which gives access to all entry points, options and delivery formats of the specification. Currently, xslt:transform-report requires Saxon 10 or later to return results.

Conventions

All functions and errors are in the http://basex.org/modules/xslt namespace, to which the xslt prefix is statically bound.

Functions

xslt:processor

Signature
xslt:processor() as xs:string
SummaryReturns the name of the applied XSLT processor (Java, Saxon EE, Saxon PE, Saxon HE). If a system property was assigned that points to an existing implementation other than Saxon, the classpath is returned instead.

xslt:version

Signature
xslt:version() as xs:string
SummaryReturns the supported XSLT version (1.0, 3.0). An empty string is returned if a classpath in the system property points to an existing implementation other than Saxon.

xslt:transform

Signature
xslt:transform(  $input       as item(),  $stylesheet  as item(),  $arguments   as map(*)?  := {},  $options     as map(*)?  := {}) as document-node()create
SummaryTransforms the document specified by $input, using the XSLT template specified by $stylesheet, and returns the result as a document node. $input and $stylesheet can be specified as:
  • xs:string, containing the stylesheet URI,
  • xs:string, containing the document in its string representation, or
  • xnode(), containing the document itself.
XML Catalog files will be considered when resolving URIs. Variables can be bound to a stylesheet via $arguments (only strings are supported when using XSLT 3.0 and Saxon). The following $options are available:
optiondefaultdescription
cachefalse() Cache XSLT transformer; speeds up repeated transformations, but increases memory consumption.
Errors
errorAn error occurred during the transformation process.

xslt:transform-text

Signature
xslt:transform-text(  $input       as item(),  $stylesheet  as item(),  $arguments   as map(*)?  := {},  $options     as map(*)?  := {}) as xs:stringcreate
SummaryTransforms the document specified by $input, using the XSLT template specified by $stylesheet, and returns the result as string. The semantics of $arguments and $options is the same as for xslt:transform.
Errors
errorAn error occurred during the transformation process.

xslt:transform-report

Signature
xslt:transform-report(  $input       as item(),  $stylesheet  as item(),  $arguments   as map(*)?  := {},  $options     as map(*)?  := {}) as map(*)create
SummaryTransforms the document specified by $input, using the XSLT template specified by $stylesheet, and returns a map with the following keys:
  • result: The transformation result: one or more nodes, or (if the result cannot be converted to XML) an item of type xs:untypedAtomic.
  • messages: Requires Saxon 10 or later: Informational output generated by xsl:message elements: A sequence of arrays. The arrays consist of XML elements, or (for those messages that cannot be converted to XML) items of type xs:untypedAtomic.
  • error (optional): An error string, which would be raised as an error by the other functions of this module.

The semantics of $arguments and $options is the same as for xslt:transform.

xslt:init

Signature
xslt:init() as empty-sequence()create
SummaryDiscards the cached XSLT transformers.

Examples

Example 1: XSL transformation, with XML and XSL supplied as nodes

Query: 
(: Outputs the result as html. :)
declare option output:method 'html';

let $in :=
  <books>
    <book>
      <title>XSLT Programmer’s Reference</title> 
      <author>Michael H. Kay</author> 
    </book>
    <book>
      <title>XSLT</title> 
      <author>Doug Tidwell</author> 
      <author>Simon St. Laurent</author>
      <author>Robert Romano</author>
    </book>
  </books>
let $style :=
  <xsl:stylesheet version='1.0' xmlns:xsl='http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform'>
    <xsl:output method='xml'/>
    <xsl:template match="/">
      <html>
        <body>
          <xsl:for-each select='books/book'>
• <b><xsl:apply-templates select='title'/></b>: <xsl:value-of select='author'/> 
          </xsl:for-each>
        </body>
      </html>
    </xsl:template>
  </xsl:stylesheet>
return xslt:transform($in, $style)
Result: 
<!DOCTYPE HTML><html><body>
• <b>XSLT Programmer’s Reference</b>: Michael H. Kay
• <b>XSLT</b>: Doug Tidwell</body></html>

Example 2: Textual XSL transformation

Query: 
xslt:transform-text(<dummy/>, 'basic.xslt')
basic.xslt 
<xsl:stylesheet version='1.0' xmlns:xsl='http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform'>
  <xsl:template match="/">123</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>
Result: 
123

Example 3: XSL transformation with variable assignment

Query: 
let $in := <dummy/>
let $style := doc('variable.xsl')
return xslt:transform($in, $style, { "v": 1 })
variable.xsl 
<xsl:stylesheet version='1.0'
    xmlns:xsl='http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform'>
  <xsl:param name='v'/>
    <xsl:template match='/'>
      <v><xsl:value-of select='$v'/></v>
    </xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>
Result: 
<v>1</v>

Example 4: XSL transformation, yielding a result and info messages

Query: 
xslt:transform-report(
  <_/>,
  <xsl:transform version='2.0' xmlns:xsl='http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform'>
    <xsl:template match='/'>
      <xsl:message><msg>START...</msg></xsl:message>
      <xml>123</xml>
      <xsl:message select='4, 5, "...END"'/>
    </xsl:template>
  </xsl:transform>
)
Result: 
{
  "messages": ([<msg>START...</msg>], ["4 5 ...END"]),
  "result": <xml>123</xml>
}

Errors

CodeDescription
errorAn error occurred during the transformation process.

Changelog

Version 11.0
  • Added: xslt:init to discard cached XSLT transformers.
Version 9.7Version 9.2
  • Updated: Support for XML Catalog files added.
Version 9.0Version 7.6Version 7.3
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XSLT Functions