Re: [xsl] normalize-space(me)

[Wendell Piez <wapiez at mulberrytech dot com>]

At 11:05 AM 6/17/2002, David wrote:
> I think you just want
> <xsl:template match="*"/>
>  <xsl:copy>
>   <xsl:apply-templates/>
>  </xsl:copy>
> </xsl:template>
>
> <xsl:template match="text()">
>  <xsl:value-of select="translate(.',&#10;,&#9;',  ')"/>
> </xsl:template>
This answer is the best, I think.

The problem with normalizing space on all text nodes is that it turns

<TITLE>This is
<S>not</S> a
normal title</TITLE>

Into

<TITLE>This is<S>not</S>a normal title</TITLE>

which won't do.

The alternative to David's translate() -- thinkable in some situations, and 
having the virtue of collapsing runs of spaces -- is to normalize, then put 
back spaces around inline elements like <S> above. The problem with this 
technique is knowing when to put them back and when not to: sometimes the 
heuristics can get pretty hairy, and sometimes (for example if you're using 
subscripts to do things like H<sub>2</sub>O) impossible.

Cheers,
Wendell


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Wendell Piez                            mailto:wapiez@mulberrytech.com
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