CODEWITHSUNDEEP
xmlxsltsorting
AppleGrew
AppleGrew

Reputation: 9578

How do I sort using XSLT based on XML nodes' attribute value?

I have been through many similar questions and XSLT tutorials but still I am unable to figure out how XSLT works.

Below is the XML that I want sort :-

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xliff xmlns="urn:oasis:names:tc:xliff:document:1.1" version="1.1">
<file product="mxn" source-language="en">
<body>

<!-- Menu -->

    <msg-unit id="Menu.PerformTask">
        <msg>Perform Task</msg>
        <note>When selected performs a task.</note>
    </msg-unit>
    <msg-unit id="Menu.Add">
        <msg>Add New</msg>
        <note>When selected Adds a new row.</note>
    </msg-unit>

</body>
</file>
</xliff>

Expected output is:-

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xliff xmlns="urn:oasis:names:tc:xliff:document:1.1" version="1.1">
<file product="mxn" source-language="en">
<body>

<!-- Menu -->

    <msg-unit id="Menu.Add">
        <msg>Add New</msg>
        <note>When selected Adds a new row.</note>
    </msg-unit>
    <msg-unit id="Menu.PerformTask">
        <msg>Perform Task</msg>
        <note>When selected performs a task.</note>
    </msg-unit>

</body>
</file>
</xliff>

The <msg-unit> tags needs to be sorted based on the value of their id attributes. Other tags (like the comments) should be where-ever they were.

I tried so many combinations but I have no clue about XSLT. Below is what was my last attempt.

<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version="2.0">
    <xsl:output method="xml" indent="yes" />
    <xsl:template match="/">
        <xsl:copy-of select="*">
            <xsl:apply-templates>
                <xsl:sort select="attribute(id)" />
            </xsl:apply-templates>
        </xsl:copy-of>
    </xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

This one simply spits out whatever XML it got, without any sorting.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 4210

Answers (1)

StuartLC
StuartLC

Reputation: 107367

Edit Updated - this template will sort only msg-unit elements by @id without interfering with the rest of the xml.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="2.0"
                xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
                xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
                >
    <xsl:output method="xml" encoding="UTF-8" indent="yes"/>
    <xsl:strip-space elements="*"/>

    <xsl:template match="@*|node()">
        <xsl:copy>
            <xsl:choose>
                <xsl:when test="*[local-name()='msg-unit']">
                    <xsl:apply-templates select="@* | node()">
                        <xsl:sort select="@id" />
                    </xsl:apply-templates>
                </xsl:when>
                <xsl:otherwise>
                    <xsl:apply-templates select="@* | node()" />
                </xsl:otherwise>
            </xsl:choose>
        </xsl:copy>
    </xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

Upvotes: 1

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