XSLT Elements

XSLT can be used to manipulate, sort, and filter XML data. Many transformations will target well-formed HTML. Well-formed means that any HTML tag can be used, subject to the stricter syntax rules of XML—all start tags are paired with end tags and are nested correctly. Well-formed HTML can be displayed by the browser, or further manipulated by XML tools. The W3C currently has a recommendation for making the next generation of HTML an XML application. The W3C XHTML™ 1.0: The Extensible HyperText Markup Language describes some of the benefits of defining well-formed HTML. XSLT is a valuable tool for generating well-formed HTML or other XML files.

XSLT enables you to define templates for your output, into which data from the XML source is delivered. Each template defines a pattern that identifies elements in the source tree and defines the resulting output sub-tree to be generated. The XSLT transformation processor merges data from the XML source document with the template. By combining a set of template fragments into a style sheet, XSLT can be used to perform data-driven transforms useful for highly irregular XML data and XML documents.

XSLT templates are defined using a small set of XML elements, listed below and described in this reference documentation.

XSLT Elements

xsl:apply-templates	Directs the XSLT processor to find the appropriate template to apply, based on the type and context of each selected node.
xsl:attribute	Creates an attribute node and attaches it to an output element.
xsl:choose	Provides multiple conditional testing in conjunction with the <xsl:otherwise> and <xsl:when> elements.
xsl:comment	Generates a comment in the output.
xsl:copy	Copies the current node from the source to the output.
xsl:copy-of	Inserts sub-trees and result tree fragments into the result tree.
xsl:element	Creates an element with the specified name in the output.
xsl:for-each	Applies a template repeatedly, applying it in turn to each node in a set.
xsl:if	Allows simple conditional template fragments.
xsl:include	Specifies another XSLT style sheet to include.
xsl:number	Inserts a formatted number into the result tree.
xsl:otherwise	Provides multiple conditional testing in conjunction with the <xsl:choose> and <xsl:when> elements.
xsl:output	Specifies options for use in serializing the result tree.
xsl:param	Declares a named parameter for use within an xsl:stylesheet or xsl:template. Allows specification of a default value.
xsl:preserve-space	Preserves white space in a document.
xsl:processing-instruction	Generates a processing instruction in the output.
msxsl:script *	Defines global variables and functions for script extensions.
xsl:sort	Specifies sort criteria for node lists selected by xsl:for-each or xsl:apply-templates.
xsl:strip-space	Strips white space from a document.
xsl:stylesheet	The document element of a style sheet, containing all other stylesheet elements.
xsl:template	Defines a reusable template for generating the desired output for nodes of a particular type and context.
xsl:text	Generates text in the output.
xsl:transform	Synonym for xsl:stylesheet
xsl:value-of	Inserts the value of the selected node as text.
xsl:variable	Specifies a value bound in an expression.
xsl:when	Provides multiple conditional testing in conjunction with the <xsl:choose> and <xsl:otherwise> elements.
xsl:with-param	Passes a parameter to a template.

* Microsoft proprietary extensions to support scripting

XSLT Elements

See Also