RE: [xsl] node() and empty elements

[Robert Goheen <RobertG at avenuea dot com>]

Bingo!  It all makes sense to me now.  Thanks....

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Wendell Piez [mailto:wapiez@mulberrytech.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2001 10:13 AM
> To: xsl-list@lists.mulberrytech.com
> Subject: Re: [xsl] node() and empty elements
> 
> 
> Robert:
> 
> When you write
> 
> <xsl:value-of select="boolean(node())" />
> 
> the argument of the boolean() function is the node-set 
> returned by the 
> XPath expression
> 
> child::node()
> 
> so it tests false for an empty element (because it has no children).
> 
> try
> 
> boolean(self::node())
> 
> instead.
> 
> Cheers,
> Wendell
> 
> >I noticed this behavior that seemed odd to me when using 
> MSXML 3.0, and
> >couldn't find anything in the XMLT standards about whether 
> this is the
> >proper behavior or not.
> >
> >Given the following fragment:
> ><Tag_1>
> >         <Tag_2 />
> ></Tag_1>
> >
> >node() at the Tag_1 context returns true, while at the Tag_2 
> context its
> >false.  It struck me as odd, as I expected an "empty node" 
> to be a node none
> >the less.
> >
> >Is this the expected behavior or an MSXML feature?  And if 
> this is the
> >expected behavior, what's the logic behind it? And, if it is 
> expected,
> >what's the best way to test for "is-empty-element"?
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >BTW: here's my little test template (a kind'a identity 
> transform), just in
> >case I did something wrong....
> >
> ><xsl:template match="/ | *">
> >
> >         <xsl:value-of select="name(.)" /> IsNode=<xsl:value-of
> >select="boolean(node())" />  <br/>
> >
> >         <xsl:copy>
> >                 <xsl:apply-templates select="*"/>
> >         </xsl:copy>
> ></xsl:template>
> >
> >
> >
> >Thanks!
> >
> >
> >
> >Robert S. Goheen
> >mailto:robertg@avenuea.com
> >
> >  XSL-List info and archive:  
> http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list
> 
> ======================================================================
> Wendell Piez                            mailto:wapiez@mulberrytech.com
> Mulberry Technologies, Inc.                http://www.mulberrytech.com
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