- named template:
-
An xsl:template element that has a name attribute declared. Template rules normally have a match attribute declared so that when the XSLT processor encounters them, they are processed immediately based on this match pattern. In contrast, a named template does not have a match attribute in it, and so another template or instruction using xsl:call-template must explicitly call a named template.
- namespace:
-
A unique label that you assign a group of elements. This label is then associated with a particular URI, and an XML or XSLT processor uses the label to identify this collection of elements. For example, XSLT stylesheets use the URI http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform and, by convention, assign this URI to an xsl: namespace.
- name-value pair:
-
A term used to describe an attribute and its corresponding value. For example, in <book id="1020"> , id is the attribute name and 1020 is its value. Together, they form a name-value pair.
- node:
-
A single point on a document tree. A node can be one of six types: element node, attribute node, text node, processing instruction node, comment node, or namespace node.
- node set:
-
An unsorted collection of unique nodes.
- node test:
-
Part of a location step, a node test identifies the nodes in the axis that meet the conditions of the test. For example, in the location step parent:book , book is the node test.
- parameter:
-
Like a variable, a parameter is an XSLT element that can represent a value. However, unlike variables , parameters have the added flexibility of being able to change their values when the XSLT stylesheet is processed. A parameter is defined with the xsl:parameter element. See also variable .
- pattern:
-
See match pattern.
- predicate:
-
An optional filter for a location step. If used, it is the final part of a location step that filters out some of the nodes returned by the axis and node test parts . For example, in the location step "book[@date="1956"]" , the book node test returns all the nodes with the value of book . The predicate [@date="1956"] then filters out all nodes except those with date attributes that equal 1956 . Predicates are always enclosed in square brackets.
- processor directive:
-
Information in an XML or XSLT structure that instructs the processor. For example, the xsl: strip-space element tells the processor what to do with whitespace when processing an XSLT document.
- QName:
-
A qualified name that consists of an optional namespace and a required local part. For example, in xsl:variable , the xsl: is the namespace prefix and variable is the local part. Together they compose a QName.
- result document:
-
The product of an XSL transformation that is written out as a file. See also result tree .
- result tree:
-
The product or output of an XSL transformation represented in a tree-like structure. A result tree is then usually written to a file, the result document.
- result tree fragment:
-
Represents a subsection of the result tree.
- root node:
-
The mother of all nodes, the root node is the ancestor of all nodes in a document tree. Note that this is not the same node as the highest level element of your document, such as an xsl:stylesheet element. Instead, the highest level element of your document tree is always the child of the root node.
- stylesheet:
-
A document that contains transformation instructions. By convention, an XSLT stylesheet has an .xsl extension.
- template:
-
The part of a template rule that defines how the returning node set is output to a result tree. See also template rule .
- template rule:
-
The major component of an XSLT stylesheet and is defined with the xsl:template element. It provides both input and output instructions. For input, its match attribute provides a pattern that specifies what node set to use. For output, it contains instructions on how to add a node and its contents to a result tree. People often confuse the terms template and template rule , but a template rule is the entire xsl:template element, while the template is the contents of the element (in other words, whats inside the start and end tags).
- top-level element:
-
Any element that is a child of the document element. For example, in an XSLT template, any element directly under xsl:stylesheet is considered a top-level element. The nine top-level XSLT elements are: xsl:import , xsl:include , xsl:strip-space , xsl: preserve-space , xsl:output , xsl:key , xsl:decimal-format , xsl: namespace-alias , xsl:attribute-set , xsl:variable , xsl:param , and xsl:template .
- tree:
-
XSLT views an XML document as a hierarchical tree, much like you may think of an ancestral family tree as a way of representing a family lineage. A tree is composed of nodes, each of which may or may not contain additional nodes. To describe relationships between nodes, XSLT uses family terminology, such as parent, child, and sibling.
