modify xml node value or attribute value with xsl without specifying

Question

I am working on a project which modifies xml documents. I want to modify either a node value or an attribute value. I was able to do that if I specify that it's a node or an attribute value that I want to modify. Modifying node value in xsl:

<xsl:template match="XPath/text()">newValue</xsl:template>

Modifying attribute value in xsl:

<xsl:template match="XPath">
  <xsl:attribute name="attributeName">newValue</xsl:attribute>
</xsl:template>

But I want to modify the values without specifying that it is a node or an attribute. For example here is a short xml:

<example>
  <test>
    <node attrName="oldAttrValue">
      oldNodeValue
    </node>
  </test>
</example>

I would like to modify the "attrName" attribute value or the "node" node value without specifying which. Is this somehow possible, maybe from an XPath?

Thank you.

If you don't say which node you want to be modified, how is the system to know? — Michael Kay
– Michael Kay, Commented Jul 2, 2015 at 7:56

michael.hor257k · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-01 23:40:18Z

1

I would like to modify the "attrName" attribute value or the "node" node value without specifying which. Is this somehow possible

If I understand your question correctly (which is not at all certain) the answer is no.

Keep in mind that the text contained in an element is a node of its own¹, and as such can be selected by an XPath expression or matched by a template's match pattern. An attribute is a node, too - but the value of an attribute is not - and therefore it cannot be selected or matched on its own.

See also: http://www.w3.org/TR/xpath/#data-model

--
(1) More precisely: each span of text contained by an element is a separately addressable node.

edited Jul 1, 2015 at 23:40

answered Jul 1, 2015 at 23:35

michael.hor257k

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Comments

Nick Grealy · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-02 00:15:10Z

Have a look at Identity Transform templates. Basically, they iterate over and copy every element in your xml (elements and attributes alike). Use this, and then either use template match="..." or if conditional blocks to modify your xml as required. For example:

Source XML

<example>
  <test>
    <node attrName="oldAttrValue">oldNodeValue</node>
    <node attrName="dontModify1">dontModify2</node>
  </test>
</example>

XSLT

<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
  <!-- identity transform -->
  <xsl:template match="@*|node()">
    <xsl:copy>
      <xsl:apply-templates select="@*|node()"/>
    </xsl:copy>
  </xsl:template>
  <!-- modify specific text() nodes -->
  <xsl:template match="text()[.='oldNodeValue']">
    <xsl:text>newElementValue</xsl:text>
  </xsl:template>
  <!-- modify specific attribute nodes -->
  <xsl:template match="@*[.='oldAttrValue']">
    <xsl:attribute name="{name()}">newAttributeValue</xsl:attribute>
  </xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

Output XML

<example>
  <test>
    <node attrname="newAttributeValue">newElementValue</node>
    <node attrname="dontModify1">dontModify2</node>
  </test>
</example>

If you don't want to specify which attribute/element values to match (i.e. you want to apply the transformation to ALL attribute/element values with non-blank values), simpy replace the text()[.='oldNodeValue'] and @*[.='oldAttrValue'] matches with text()[normalize-space(.)!=''] and @*[normalize-space(.)!=''] respectively.

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