XSLT <xsl:variable> Element

XSLT Elements

Definition and Usage

The <xsl:variable> element is used to declare local or global variables.

Note:If declared as a top-level element, the variable is global, while if declared within a template, the variable is local.

Note:Once you have set the value of a variable, it cannot be changed or modified!

Tip:You can add values to variables through the content of the <xsl:variable> element or through the select attribute!

Syntax

<xsl:variable
name="name"
select="expression">
  <!-- Content:template -->
</xsl:variable>

Attribute

Attribute Value Description
name name Required. Specifies the name of the variable.
select expression Optional. Defines the value of the variable.

Instance

Example 1

If the select attribute is set, the <xsl:variable> element cannot contain any content. If the select attribute contains a text string, the string must be quoted.

The following two examples assign the value "red" to the variable "color":

<xsl:variable name="color" select="'red'" />

<xsl:variable name="color" select='"red"' />

Example 2

If the <xsl:variable> element only contains a name attribute and no content, the value of the variable is an empty string:

<xsl:variable name="j" />

Example 3

The following example assigns the content of the <xsl:variable> element to the variable "header":

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:variable name="header">
  <tr>
  <th>Element</th>
  <th>Description</th>
  </tr>
</xsl:variable>
<xsl:template match="/">
  <html>
  <body>
  <table>
    <xsl:copy-of select="$header" />
    <xsl:for-each select="reference/record">
    <tr>
    <xsl:if category="XML">
      <td><xsl:value-of select="element"/></td>
      <td><xsl:value-of select="description"/></td>
    </xsl:if>
    </tr>
    </xsl:for-each>
  </table>
  <br />
  <table>
    <xsl:copy-of select="$header" />
    <xsl:for-each select="table/record">
    <tr>
    <xsl:if category="XSL">
      <td><xsl:value-of select="element"/></td>
      <td><xsl:value-of select="description"/></td>
    </xsl:if>
    </tr>
    </xsl:for-each>
  </table>
  </body>
  </html>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

XSLT Elements