How to replace an XML attribute using XSLT when a certain other attribute is filled?

Question

I got two possible XML files:

<orders>
   <order id="1">
      <code value="001-AAA"/>
      <altCode value="002-BBB"/>
   </order>
</orders>

And:

<orders>
   <order id="2">
      <code value="001-AAA"/>
      <altCode value=""/>
   </order>
</orders>

I would like the <code>tag's value attribute to be replaced by the <altCode>tag's value attribute, unless the second value is empty. In that case I would like the XML te remain unchanged. The <altCode>tag doesn't need to be changed.

So the resulting two XML files should look like this:

<orders>
   <order id="1">
      <code value="002-BBB"/>
      <altCode value="002-BBB"/>
   </order>
</orders>

And:

<orders>
   <order id="2">
      <code value="001-AAA"/>
      <altCode value=""/>
   </order>
</orders>

Note: The actual files I like to convert are a lot more complex. So I prefer to copy the template and change the attribute after with a when-statement.

Any help is very much appreciated.

"I prefer to copy the template and change the attribute after with a when-statement." What template? You haven't showed as any template, and we don't know what it matches, which is crucial. — michael.hor257k
– michael.hor257k, Commented Aug 22, 2017 at 10:58

michael.hor257k · Accepted Answer · 2017-08-22 10:57:07Z

2

I would suggest you do:

XSLT 1.0

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

<!-- identity transform -->
<xsl:template match="@*|node()">
    <xsl:copy>
        <xsl:apply-templates select="@*|node()"/>
    </xsl:copy>
</xsl:template>

<xsl:template match="code/@value[string(../../altCode/@value)]">
    <xsl:copy-of select="../../altCode/@value"/>
</xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

answered Aug 22, 2017 at 10:57

michael.hor257k

118k6 gold badges36 silver badges55 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

Chanan Ippel Over a year ago

Thanks Michael! That's it. I got most of it, but got stuck on the last part. Could you explain that part?

<xsl:template match="code/@value[string(../../altCode/@value)]">             <xsl:copy-of select="../../altCode/@value"/>         </xsl:template>

I know the @-part, but '[ ]', string and '../' are unknown to me. Just started XSLT a few day ago.

michael.hor257k Over a year ago

@ChananIppel The 2nd template matches the value attribute of code on the condition expressed in the [predicate] part. The predicate evaluates to true when the sibling's altCode/@value is not an empty string. Otherwise the attribute will be copied as is by the 1st template. ../ means go up to the parent level.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How to replace an XML attribute using XSLT when a certain other attribute is filled?

1 Answer 1

2 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

2 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related