using xml as xsl variable

Question

I have to create slightly dynamic pdf (two variables) with two text blocks in different languages.

Most of the text in both blocks is static

I was thinking if I could create one template that would create xsl-fo for the layout. Then create two variables containing custom xml. Something like:

<xsl:variable name="TEXT_CONTENT_ENG" >
  <STATIC_TEXT> 
   <LABEL>Hello</LABEL>
   <REQUEST>Please pay your bill before </REQUEST>
  </STATIC_TEXT>
</xsl:variable>

Finally I could apply created template twice using these variables.

xsl appears to validate with given variable but I couldn't apply template to that xml. Tried and also document($TEXT_CONTENT_ENG) neither worked.

Is this even possible and how to do it?

Answer 1

Using xalan I was able to do it like this:

<xsl:apply-templates select="xalan:nodeset($TEXT_CONTENT_ENG)/STATIC_TEXT"/>

Similar function is also available for exslt

Answer 2

Most of the text in both blocks is static

If this is true, then the proper XSLT way is inline data. From http://www.w3.org/TR/xslt#stylesheet-element

In addition, the xsl:stylesheet element may contain any element not from the XSLT namespace, provided that the expanded-name of the element has a non-null namespace URI. The presence of such top-level elements must not change the behavior of XSLT elements and functions defined in this document; for example, it would not be permitted for such a top-level element to specify that xsl:apply-templates was to use different rules to resolve conflicts. Thus, an XSLT processor is always free to ignore such top-level elements, and must ignore a top-level element without giving an error if it does not recognize the namespace URI. Such elements can provide, for example,

• information used by extension elements or extension functions (see
  [14 Extensions]),

• information about what to do with the result tree,

• information about how to obtain the source tree,

• metadata about the stylesheet,

• structured documentation for the stylesheet.

<stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"&gt;
    <variable name="vRTF">
        <STATIC_TEXT xmlns="">
            <LABEL>Hello</LABEL>
            <REQUEST>Please pay your bill before </REQUEST>
        </STATIC_TEXT>
    </variable>
    <template match="/">
        <apply-templates
              select="document('')/*/xsl:variable[@name='vRTF']/node()"
              xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"/&gt;
    </template>
    <template match="@*|node()">
        <copy>
            <apply-templates select="@* | node()"/>
        </copy>
    </template>
</stylesheet>

Output:

<STATIC_TEXT>
    <LABEL>Hello</LABEL>
    <REQUEST>Please pay your bill before </REQUEST>
</STATIC_TEXT>

Note: In XML 1.0 you can reset only default namespace.

Answer 3

Alejandro's answer is in general correct, but the unconventional use of namespaces is a little confusing, and he's wrapped the data in an unnecessary xsl:variable element, which is also a little confusing.

As long as you put your element in its own namespace, you can make it a child of the xsl:stylesheet element. You can then access it by using document(''), which returns the current XSLT document:

<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" 
    xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
    xmlns:in="urn:inline-data"
    exclude-result-prefixes="in"
>

   <in:TEXT_CONTENT_ENG>
      <STATIC_TEXT> 
         <LABEL>Hello</LABEL>
         <REQUEST>Please pay your bill before </REQUEST>
      </STATIC_TEXT>
   </in:TEXT_CONTENT_ENG>

   <xsl:template match="/">
      <output>
         <xsl:apply-templates 
             select="document('')/xsl:stylesheet/in:TEXT_CONTENT_ENG/*"/>
      </output>
   </xsl:template>

   <xsl:template match="STATIC_TEXT">
      <xsl:text>The label is </xsl:text>
      <xsl:value-of select="LABEL"/>
      <xsl:text> and the request is </xsl:text>
      <xsl:value-of select="REQUEST"/>
   </xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>