XSLT Elements (Windows Embedded CE 6.0)

1/6/2010

XSL Transformations (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 World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) currently has a recommendation for making the next generation of HTML an XML application. W3C XHTML™ 1.0: The Extensible HyperText Markup Language, described in the World Wide Web Consortium Web site describes 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 subtree 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 the following set of XML elements:

XSLT Elements

Element	Description
xsl:apply-imports Element	Invokes an overridden template rule.
xsl:apply-templates Element	Directs the XSLT processor to find the appropriate template to apply, based on the type and context of each selected node.
xsl:attribute Element	Creates an attribute node and attaches it to an output element.
xsl:attribute-set Element	Defines a named set of attributes.
xsl:call-template Element	Invokes a template by name.
xsl:choose Element	Provides multiple conditional testing in conjunction with the <xsl:otherwise Element> and <xsl:when Element>.
xsl:comment Element	Generates a comment in the output.
xsl:copy Element	Copies the current node from the source to the output.
xsl:copy-of Element	Inserts subtrees and result-tree fragments into the result tree.
xsl:decimal-format Element	Declares a decimal-format, which controls the interpretation of a format pattern used by the format-number Function.
xsl:element Element	Creates an element with the specified name in the output.
xsl:fallback Element	Calls template content that can provide a reasonable substitute to the behavior of the new element when encountered.
xsl:for-each Element	Applies a template repeatedly, applying it in turn to each node in a set.
xsl:if Element	Allows simple conditional template fragments.
xsl:import Element	Specifies an XSLT style sheet to include.
xsl:include Element	Specifies another XSLT style sheet to include.
xsl:key Element	Declares a named key for use with the key function in XML Path Language (XPath) expressions.
xsl:message Element	Sends a text message to either the message buffer or a message dialog box.
xsl:namespace-alias Element	Replaces the prefix associated with a given name space with another prefix.
xsl:number Element	Inserts a formatted number into the result tree.
xsl:otherwise Element	Provides multiple conditional testing in conjunction with the <xsl:choose Element> and <xsl:when Element>.
xsl:output Element	Specifies options for use in serializing the result tree.
xsl:param Element	Declares a named parameter for use within an xsl:stylesheet Element or xsl:template Element. Allows specification of a default value.
xsl:preserve-space Element	Preserves white space in a document.
xsl:processing-instruction Element	Generates a processing instruction in the output.
msxsl:script Element	Defines global variables and functions for script extensions.
xsl:sort Element	Specifies sort criteria for node lists selected by xsl:for-each Element or xsl:apply-templates Element.
xsl:strip-space Element	Strips white space from a document.
xsl:stylesheet Element	The document element of a style sheet, containing all other style sheet elements.
xsl:template Element	Defines a reusable template for generating the desired output for nodes of a particular type and context.
xsl:text Element	Generates text in the output.
xsl:transform Element	Synonym for xsl:stylesheet Element.
xsl:value-of Element	Inserts the value of the selected node as text.
xsl:variable Element	Specifies a value bound in an expression.
xsl:when Element	Provides multiple conditional testing in conjunction with the <xsl:choose Element> and <xsl:otherwise Element>.
xsl:with-param Element	Passes a parameter to a template.

* Microsoft proprietary extensions to support scripting

See Also

Reference

XSLT Reference

Other Resources

XML Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT)