XML & XSL - xsl:if

This tag is a simple conditional construct. Multi conditional testing is also possible by using xsl:choose, xsl:when, and xsl:otherwise.

Syntax

<xsl:if expr="script-expression" language="language-name" test="pattern">

Attributes

• expr - evaluates to a boolean. If true and the test pattern match succeeds then the contents of the xsl:if tag are output.
• language - scripting language used in the expr attribute.
• test - condition to test as a pattern match.

Parent Elements

• xsl:attribute
• xsl:comment
• xsl:copy
• xsl:element
• xsl:for-each
• xsl:if
• xsl:otherwise
• xsl:pi
• xsl:template
• xsl:when
• output elements

Child Elements

• xsl:apply-templates
• xsl:attribute
• xsl:choose
• xsl:comment
• xsl:copy
• xsl:element
• xsl:eval
• xsl:for-each
• xsl:if
• xsl:pi
• xsl:value-of
• output elements

Purpose

The example below will put a horizontal line between each continent.

A Countries Example Using xls:if

XML Data Tree Structure

Click here to see the XML structure of this example.

XML & XSL in Action

Click here to see the XSL formatted display of the example shown below.

The XSL Style Sheet

<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/TR/WD-xsl">
	<xsl:template>
		<xsl:apply-templates select="@*"/>
			<xsl:if test="@name[.='Africa']"><HR/></xsl:if>
			<xsl:if test="@name[.='Asia']"><HR/></xsl:if>
			<xsl:if test="@name[.='Europe']"><HR/></xsl:if>
			<xsl:if test="@name[.='Latin America and the Caribbean']"><HR/></xsl:if>
			<xsl:if test="@name[.='North America']"><HR/></xsl:if>
			<xsl:if test="@name[.='Oceania']"><HR/></xsl:if>
			<xsl:value-of select="@name"/>
		<xsl:apply-templates/>
	</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>