The <xsl:variable> Element

Definition and Usage

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

Note: The variable is global if it's declared as a top-level element, and local if it's declared within a template.

Note: Once you have set a variable's value, you cannot change or modify that value!

Tip: You can add a value to a variable by the content of the <xsl:variable> element OR by the select attribute!

Syntax

<xsl:variable
name="name"
select="expression">

  <!-- Content:template -->

</xsl:variable>

Attributes

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

Example 1

If the select attribute is present, the <xsl:variable> element cannot contain any content. If the select attribute contains a literal string, the string must be within quotes. 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 there is no content, then the value of the variable is an empty string:

<xsl:variable name="j" />

Example 3

The following example adds a value to the variable "header" by the content of the <xsl:variable> element:

<?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>

Jump to: Top of Page or HOME or Printer friendly page

Search W3Schools:

What Others Say About Us

Does the world know about us? Check out these places:

Dogpile Alta Vista MSN Google Excite Lycos Yahoo Ask Jeeves

We Help You For Free. You Can Help Us!

W3Schools is for training only. We do not warrant its correctness or its fitness for use. The risk of using it remains entirely with the user. While using this site, you agree to have read and accepted our terms of use and privacy policy.

How we converted to XHTML

ASP Ecommerce & Shopping Cart

Your own Web Site?

Read W3Schools
Hosting Tutorial

$15 Domain Name
Registration
Save $20 / year!

Advertise
at W3Schools

Only 0.5 CPM

SELECTED LINKS

University Online
Master Degree
Bachelor Degree

Web Software

The Future of
Web Development

Jobs and Careers

Web Security
Web Statistics
Web Standards

PARTNERS

W3Schools
TopXML
VisualBuilder
XMLPitstop
DevelopersDex
DevGuru
Programmers Heaven
The Code Project
Tek Tips Forum
ZVON.ORG
TopXML Search