1 <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> 2 <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head> <meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type" /><title>Template Attribute Reference</title> 3 <meta name="generator" content="amaya 8.1a, see http://www.w3.org/Amaya/" /> <link href="styles.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /></head> 4 <body><h1>Template Attribute Reference</h1> 5 <p>This document presents each of the attributes used in 6 templates to annotate the structure of the XML documents being 7 presented and to modify the final output of the presented document.</p><h2>Basic Annotations</h2><p>The annotation attributes in this section are the most basic of those available. Apart from <code>template:element</code>, it is usually preferable to use the annotations listed in the "Convenience Annotations" section below.</p><h3>template:element</h3><p>This 8 attribute associates the template element on which it is used with an 9 element from the XML document being presented. Matching elements are 10 found from the current position (or context), where the position 11 is updated upon entering a template element with a <code>template:element</code> or <code>template:attribute</code> annotation.</p><p>Example:</p><pre><p template:element="item"><br /> For each item element found, this section is produced.<br /> <span template:element="subitem"><br /> For each subitem element found within an item element, this is produced.<br /> </span><br /> <span template:element="other"><br /> This is produced for each other element found within an item element.<br /> </span><br /></p></pre><p>Example:</p><pre><p template:element="first,second,third"><br /> For each third element found, this section is produced.<br /></p></pre><p>Syntax:</p><pre>element-name1[,element-name2[,...]]</pre><p>Related attributes:</p><ul><li><code>template:init</code></li></ul><h3>template:attribute</h3><p>This attribute associates the template element on which it is used with an attribute in the XML document being presented.</p><p>Example:</p><pre><p template:element="item"><br /> <span template:attribute="value"><br /> This section is associated with the value attribute of the item element.<br /> To be really useful, we should also use other annotations to produce the value of the attribute.<br /> </span><br /></p></pre><p>Syntax:</p><pre>attribute-name</pre><p>Related attributes:</p><ul><li><code>template:value</code></li><li><code>template:attribute-field</code></li><li><code>template:attribute-button</code></li><li><code>template:attribute-area</code></li><li><code>template:attribute-list-button</code></li></ul><h3>template:value</h3><p>This attribute produces, in the final output, the value of part of the XML document being presented.</p><p>Example:</p><pre><p template:element="item"><br /> <span template:attribute="value" template:value="$this-value"><br /> This text will be replaced by the value of the attribute, but the span template element will remain.<br /> </span><br /></p></pre><p>Example:</p><pre><p template:element="item"><br /> <span template:attribute="value" template:value="$this-value" template:effect="replace"><br /> This text and its enclosing span element will be replaced by the value of the attribute.<br /> </span><br /></p></pre><p>Syntax:</p><pre>XPath-expression</pre><p>Here, the underlying XPath mechanisms are exposed, but a number of useful shortcuts are available:</p><ul><li><code>$this-value</code> produces the value of the current position (or context) in the XML document being presented.</li><li><code>template:this-attribute()</code> produces a reference to the current attribute (or context).</li></ul>Other XPath expressions can be used to navigate from the current position to other nodes in the XML document.<p>Related attributes:</p><ul><li><code>template:effect</code></li></ul><h3>template:effect</h3><p>This attribute modifies the effect of a <code>template:value</code> annotation.</p><p>Example:</p><p>(See above.)</p><p>Syntax:</p><pre><span style="font-weight: bold;">insert</span>|<span style="font-weight: bold;">replace</span></pre><p>Related attributes:</p><ul><li><code>template:effect</code></li><li><code>template:attribute-area</code></li></ul><h3>template:if</h3><p>This 12 attribute permits the inclusion of a section of the template document 13 according to a test performed on the XML document being presented.</p><p>Example:</p><pre><p template:if="@value = 'true'"><br /> If the value attribute is set to the string value 'true', include this section.<br /></p></pre><p>Syntax:</p><pre>XPath-expression</pre><p>Here, 14 the underlying XPath mechanisms are exposed, and any XPath expression 15 which tests aspects of the XML document can be written.</p><h2>Initialisation Annotations</h2><p>The annotation attributes in this section control the initialisation of documents where this is done by the XSLForms toolkit.</p><h3>template:init</h3><p>This attribute controls the creation of elements in the initialisation process and is used together with <code>template:element</code>. For each element name listed in a <code>template:element</code> annotation, the corresponding value in a <code>template:init</code> annotation states whether or how such elements are to be initialised.</p><p>Example:</p><pre><p template:element="item" template:init="no"><br /> Such item elements will not be created automatically when the document is initialised.<br /></p></pre><p>Example:</p><pre><p template:element="first,second,third" template:init="yes,yes,no"><br /> The first and second elements will be created automatically when the document is initialised.<br /> No third elements will be created automatically when the document is initialised.<br /></p></pre><p>Syntax:</p><pre><span style="font-weight: bold;">yes</span>|<span style="font-weight: bold;">no</span>|<span style="font-weight: bold;">auto</span>[,<span style="font-weight: bold;">yes</span>|<span style="font-weight: bold;">no</span>|<span style="font-weight: bold;">auto</span>[,...]]</pre><p>Here, <code>yes</code> means that an element will be created automatically, <code>no</code> means that an element will not be created automatically (relying on the existence of such elements from before), and <code>auto</code> 16 means that the initialisation process will attempt to guess whether an 17 element should be created automatically (by looking for selectors which 18 use the element's name and only creating elements where no such 19 selectors could be found). Where no values are provided, <code>auto</code> is assumed.</p><p>Related attributes:</p><ul><li><code>template:element</code></li></ul><h2>Convenience Annotations</h2><p>The 20 annotation attributes in this section provide more convenient ways of 21 presenting the XML document information in the final output.</p><h3>template:attribute-field</h3><p>This 22 attribute associates the template element on which it is used with an 23 attribute from the XML document, whilst providing certain other 24 attributes in the final output:</p><ul><li>The <code>name</code> attribute is used to identify the location of the attribute in the XML document being presented.</li><li>The <code>value</code> attribute is used to present the value of the attribute from the XML document.</li></ul><p>Example:</p><pre><input template:attribute-field="name" name="..." value="..." type="text"/></pre><p>This would be output as follows:</p><pre><input name="path-to-name" value="value-of-name" type="text"/></pre><p>...where <code>path-to-name</code> and <code>value-of-name</code> would be replaced with the appropriate computed values.</p><p>Syntax:</p><pre>attribute-name</pre><p>Related attributes:</p><ul><li><code>template:attribute-area</code></li><li><code>template:attribute-button</code></li></ul><p>Implementing attributes:</p><ul><li><code>template:attribute</code></li></ul><h3>template:attribute-area</h3><p>This 25 attribute associates the template element on which it is used with an 26 attribute from the XML document being presented, much in the way 27 that <code>template:attribute-field</code> does. However, the 28 attribute value is not inserted into an attribute in the final output; 29 instead it is inserted into the output in a different way according to 30 additional information specified in the annotation.</p><p>Example:</p><pre><textarea template:attribute-area="name" name="..." cols="40" rows="5"><br /> This text will be replaced by the value of the name attribute from the document being presented.<br /> The textarea element will enclose the attribute value in the final output.<br /></textarea></pre><p>Example:</p><pre><p><br /> The name is:<br /> <span template:attribute-area="name,replace"><br /> This text will be replaced in the final output, and the span element will not be reproduced.<br /> </span><br /></p></pre><p>Syntax:</p><pre>attribute-name[,<span style="font-weight: bold;">insert</span>|<span style="font-weight: bold;">replace</span>]</pre><p>By default, the value of <code>attribute-name</code> is inserted within the template element on which the annotation appears, and this is equivalent to specifying <code>insert</code>. If <code>replace</code> is specified, the template element is entirely replaced by the value of <code>attribute-name</code>.</p><p>Related attributes:</p><ul><li><code>template:attribute-field</code></li></ul><p>Implementing attributes:</p><ul><li><code>template:attribute</code></li></ul><h3>template:attribute-button</h3><p>This attribute associates the template element on which it is used 31 with an attribute from the XML document, whilst providing certain other 32 attributes in the final output, much like <code>template:attribute-field</code> does, but with features which make the presentation of buttons and related user interface controls much simpler:</p><ul><li>The <code>name</code> attribute is used to identify the location of the attribute in the XML document being presented.</li><li>The <code>value</code> attribute is used to present a specified value associated with the button being activated.</li><li>An additional named attribute is used to indicate whether the button was activated or set.</li></ul><p>Example:</p><pre><input template:attribute-button="question-type,text,checked" name="..." value="..." type="radio"/></pre><p>This would produce a "radio" button like the following:</p><pre><input name="path-to-question-type" value="text" type="radio"/></pre><p>If the value of <code>question-type</code> was set to text, output like the following would be produced:</p><pre><input name="path-to-question-type" value="text" type="radio" checked="checked"/></pre><p>In an XHTML document, this would cause the "radio" button to appear selected or activated.</p><p>Syntax:</p><pre>attribute-name,attribute-value,attribute-to-create-when-set</pre><p>Related attributes:</p><ul><li><code>template:attribute-field</code></li><li><code>template:attribute-list-button</code></li></ul><p>Implementing attributes:</p><ul><li><code>template:attribute</code></li><li><code>template:expr</code></li><li><code>template:expr-attr</code></li></ul><h3>template:selector-field</h3><p>This 33 attribute permits the definition of references to the parts of the XML 34 document being presented which are associated with the template 35 elements in which it is used. When used in certain HTML form-related 36 elements, it becomes possible to receive and obtain such references 37 from the XSLForms toolkit and to then access the selected parts of the 38 original document.</p><p>Example:</p><pre><p template:element="item"><br /> <input template:selector-field="remove" name="..." value="Remove this item" type="submit"/><br /></p></pre><p>Example:</p><pre><p template:element="item"><br /> An item...<br /></p><br /><input template:selector-field="add,item" name="..." value="Add item" type="submit"/></pre><p>Syntax:</p><pre>selector-name[,element-name]</pre><p>The 39 optional element name can be used to associate the selector with other 40 elements; when this is done, the initialisation of the XML document 41 will be affected such that the named element will not be automatically 42 created in the initialisation process, since the presence of the 43 selector implies that such elements can be added and removed in the 44 application user interface.</p><p>Related attributes:</p><ul><li><code>template:element</code></li></ul><h2>Multiple-choice Annotations</h2><p>The annotation attributes in this section provide ways of presenting enumerations and selections of values.</p><h3>template:multiple-choice-field</h3><p>This 45 attribute associates the template element on which it is used with an 46 attribute in the XML document being presented whose value is to be 47 chosen from a list of possibilities. The list itself is represented by 48 a list of elements, each having an attribute with a distinct 49 value; such information is added in the initialisation of the 50 document before it is presented, since it is not part of the 51 "essential" information in the document.</p><p>Example:</p><pre><select template:multiple-choice-field="base-system,value" name="..."><br /> ...<br /></select></pre><p>Example:</p><pre><select template:multiple-choice-field="-,question-type" name="..."><br /> ...<br /></select></pre><p>See below for an example combining this attribute with the <code>template:multiple-choice-value</code> attribute.</p><p>Syntax:</p><pre>element-name|<span style="font-weight: bold;">-</span>,attribute-name[,<span style="font-weight: bold;">new</span>]</pre><p>Where the special value <code>-</code> 52 is given as the element name, the context element is chosen as the 53 element in the XML document being presented whose attribute is 54 involved. Where the optional parameter <code>new</code> is given, the attribute is assumed not to already exist on the element.</p><p>Related attributes:</p><ul><li><code>template:multiple-choice-value</code></li><li><code>template:multiple-choice-list-field</code></li></ul><p>Implementing attributes:</p><ul><li><code>template:element</code></li><li><code>template:attribute</code></li></ul><h3>template:multiple-choice-value</h3><p>This 55 attribute associates the template element on which it is used with an 56 element in the XML document being presented whose purpose is to hold 57 one of a list of selectable values (as described above).</p><p>Example:</p><pre><select template:multiple-choice-field="base-system,value" name="..."><br /> <option template:multiple-choice-value="base-system-enum,value,selected" value="..."/><br /></select></pre><p>This presents the following document fragment:</p><pre><base-system value="c"><br /> <base-system-enum value="a"/><br /> <base-system-enum value="b"/><br /> <base-system-enum value="c"/><br /></base-system></pre><p>The output from the combination of the above would be as follows:</p><pre><select name="path-to-base-system"><br /> <option value="a">a</option><br /> <option value="b">b</option><br /> <option value="c" selected="selected">c</option><br /></select></pre><p>Syntax:</p><pre>list-element-name,list-attribute-name,attribute-to-create-when-selected</pre><p>Related attributes:</p><ul><li><code>template:multiple-choice-field</code></li><li><code>template:multiple-choice-list-value</code></li></ul><p>Implementing attributes:</p><ul><li><code>template:element</code></li><li><code>template:expr</code></li><li><code>template:expr-attr</code></li><li><code>template:value</code></li></ul><h3>template:multiple-choice-list-field</h3><p>This attribute is similar to <code>template:multiple-choice-field</code> 58 except that it associates the template element on which it is used with 59 an element in the XML document being presented containing a list 60 of elements whose values have been selected. This list of selected 61 elements is expanded before presentation to include elements whose 62 values have not been selected. Consequently, the selected elements are 63 marked in a particular way to distinguish them from the non-selected 64 elements.</p><p>Example:</p><pre><select template:multiple-choice-list-field="question-types,question-type-enum,question-type" name="..." multiple="multiple"><br /> ...<br /></select></pre><p>See below for an example combining this attribute with the <code>template:multiple-choice-list-value</code> attribute.</p><p>Syntax:</p><pre>element-name|<span style="font-weight: bold;">-</span>,list-element-name,list-attribute-name</pre><p>Here, <code>element-name</code> is the element in the document being presented which contains the selected value elements; if the special value <code>-</code> is given then the context element is the element containing the selected value elements. The <code>list-element-name</code> and <code>list-attribute-name</code> indicate the details of the elements providing the list of selectable values.</p><p>Related attributes:</p><ul><li><code>template:multiple-choice-list-value</code></li><li><code>template:multiple-choice-list-element</code></li><li><code>template:multiple-choice-field</code></li></ul><p>Implementing attributes:</p><ul><li><code>template:element</code></li></ul><h3>template:multiple-choice-list-value</h3><p>This attribute is similar to <code>template:multiple-choice-value</code> 65 in that it associates the template element on which it is used with an 66 element holding a value in a list of selectable values, with the 67 principal difference that potentially many such values may be selected 68 in this case.</p><p>Example:</p><pre><select template:multiple-choice-list-field="question-types,question-type-enum,question-type" multiple="multiple"><br /> <option template:multiple-choice-list-value="question-type-enum,question-type,selected" value="..."/><br /></select></pre><p>This presents the following document fragment:</p><pre><question-types><br /> <question-type-enum question-type="text"/><br /> <question-type-enum question-type="choice" value-is-set="true"/><br /> <question-type-enum question-type="special" value-is-set="true"/><br /></question-types></pre><p>The output from the combination of the above would be as follows:</p><pre><select name="path-to-question-types" multiple="multiple"><br /> <option value="text">text</option><br /> <option value="choice" selected="selected">choice</option><br /> <option value="special" selected="selected">special</option><br /></select></pre><p>Syntax:</p><pre>list-element-name,list-attribute-name,attribute-to-create-when-selected</pre><p>Related attributes:</p><ul><li><code>template:multiple-choice-list-field</code></li><li><code>template:multiple-choice-value</code></li></ul><p>Implementing attributes:</p><ul><li><code>template:element</code></li><li><code>template:expr</code></li><li><code>template:expr-attr</code></li><li><code>template:value</code></li></ul><h3>template:multiple-choice-list-element</h3><p>This attribute works in much the same way as <code>template:multiple-choice-list-field</code> except that it does not add a <code>name</code> attribute to the template element on which it is used. The purpose of this attribute, along with <code>template:attribute-list-button</code>, is to provide an alternative approach to presenting lists of selectable values.</p><p>Example:</p><pre><p template:multiple-choice-list-element="question,question-types,question-type"><br /> ...<br /></p></pre><p>See below for an example combining this attribute with the <code>template:attribute-list-button</code> attribute.</p><p>Syntax:</p><pre>element-name|<span style="font-weight: bold;">-</span>,list-element-name,list-attribute-name</pre><p>Here, <code>element-name</code> is the element in the document being presented which contains the selected value elements; if the special value <code>-</code> is given then the context element is the element containing the selected value elements. The <code>list-element-name</code> and <code>list-attribute-name</code> indicate the details of the elements providing the list of selectable values.</p><p>Related attributes:</p><ul><li><code>template:multiple-choice-list-field</code></li><li><code>template:attribute-list-button</code></li></ul><p>Implementing attributes:</p><ul><li><code>template:element</code></li></ul><h3>template:attribute-list-button</h3><p>This attribute works in much the same way as <code>template:attribute-button</code> 69 does, but instead presents a button or related user interface control 70 whose state reflects the presence of an attribute on an element in a 71 collection of elements.</p><p>Example:</p><pre><p template:multiple-choice-list-element="question,question-types,question-type"><br /> <input template:attribute-list-button="question-type,checked" name="..." value="..." type="checkbox"/><br /></p></pre><p>Given an XML document like this...</p><pre><question><br /> <question-types question-type="text" value-is-set="true"/><br /> <question-types question-type="choice"/><br /></question></pre><p>...the following would be produced as output:</p><pre><p><br /> <input name="path-to-question-type" value="text" type="checkbox" checked="checked"/><br /></p><br /><p><br /> <input name="path-to-question-type" value="choice" type="checkbox"/><br /></p></pre><p>Syntax:</p><pre>attribute-name,attribute-to-create-when-set</pre><p>Related attributes:</p><ul><li><code>template:multiple-choice-list-element</code></li><li><code>template:attribute-button</code></li></ul><p>Implementing attributes:</p><ul><li><code>template:attribute</code></li><li><code>template:expr</code></li><li><code>template:expr-attr</code></li></ul><h2>Internal Annotations</h2><p>The special annotations <code>template:expr</code> and <code>template:expr-attr</code> 72 are used respectively to test an XPath expression in the current 73 context and to provide the name of an attribute which is to be created 74 in the final output, should the expression evaluate to a true value.</p></body></html>
