How can I split a table vertically into two tables in XSL?

Question

If I have the following table:

<table>
   <tr><td>1</td><td>2</td><td>3</td><td>4</td><td>5</td><td>6</td></tr>
   <tr><td>A</td><td>B</td><td>C</td><td>D</td><td>E</td><td>F</td></tr>
</table>

How would I split this in XSLT so that I end up with the following:

<table>
   <tr><td>1</td><td>2</td><td>3</td></tr>
   <tr><td>A</td><td>B</td><td>C</td></tr>
</table>    
<table>
   <tr><td>4</td><td>5</td><td>6</td></tr>
   <tr><td>D</td><td>E</td><td>F</td></tr>
</table>

I am interested in a generalized method, where the table could have any dimensions and be split into more than two tables. I don't care about rows; I want to split where there are more than N columns and end up with TD/N tables where TD is a table data cell. E.g., if there are 12 columns and 25 rows, I'd like 4 tables, each with 3 columns and 25 rows.

Answer 1

Try this. This should work in XSLT 1.0 . Adjust the ITEMS variable to vary the number of columns you want for each table.

<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version="1.0">

   <xsl:output method="html" omit-xml-declaration="yes"/>

   <xsl:variable name="ITEMS">3</xsl:variable>

   <xsl:template match="//table">
      <!-- Loop through the items in the first row -->
      <xsl:for-each select="tr[position() = 1]/td">
         <!-- Check if this item needs to be the start of a new row in a new table -->
         <xsl:if test="position() mod $ITEMS = 1">
            <!-- Get the current position which is used to get items from subsequent rows -->
            <xsl:variable name="COLUMNNUMBER" select="position()"/>
            <table>
               <!-- Loop through all the rows in the table -->
               <xsl:for-each select="../../tr">
                  <tr>
                     <!-- Output items within the required range using previously saved column number -->
                     <xsl:for-each select="td[position() &gt;= $COLUMNNUMBER and position() &lt; $COLUMNNUMBER + $ITEMS]">
                        <xsl:copy-of select="."/>
                     </xsl:for-each>
                  </tr>
               </xsl:for-each>
            </table>
         </xsl:if>
      </xsl:for-each>
   </xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

Answer 2

Here is my take at it:

<xsl:stylesheet 
  version="1.0" 
  xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
>
  <xsl:variable name="split" select="3" />

  <xsl:template match="table">
    <xsl:variable name="self" select="." />
    <!-- select <td>1</td>, <td>4</td> -->
    <xsl:for-each select="tr[1]/td[position() mod $split = 1]">
      <xsl:apply-templates select="$self" mode="split">
        <!-- calculate & pass the starting position for copying <td>s -->
        <xsl:with-param name="start" select="$split * (position() - 1)" />
      </xsl:apply-templates>
    </xsl:for-each>
  </xsl:template>

  <!-- this just copies the table an passes on $start -->
  <xsl:template match="table" mode="split">
    <xsl:param name="start" select="0" />
    <xsl:copy>
      <xsl:apply-templates select="tr" mode="split">
        <xsl:with-param name="start" select="$start" />
      </xsl:apply-templates>
    </xsl:copy>
  </xsl:template>

  <!-- this copies <tr>/<td> based on $start -->
  <xsl:template match="tr" mode="split">
    <xsl:param name="start" select="0" />
    <xsl:copy>
      <xsl:copy-of select="td[
        position() &gt; $start and position() &lt;= $start + $split
      ]" />
    </xsl:copy>
  </xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

Result:

<table>
  <tr>
    <td>1</td><td>2</td><td>3</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>A</td><td>B</td><td>C</td>
  </tr>
</table>
<table>
  <tr>
    <td>4</td><td>5</td><td>6</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>D</td><td>E</td><td>F</td>
  </tr>
</table>