The biggest problem most developers encounter when they start trying to create XSLT stylesheets is that XSLT is a declarative language, not a procedural one. This means that constructs that look like looping constructs, such as xsl:for-each, don't behave in the way you might expect. For example, if I want to use an xsl:for-each loop to select some distinct subset of elements, I can't use a variable to "remember" what the previous iteration's node value was - as that won't be available when the "next" matched element is processed. I also find the available constructs in XSLT somewhat limiting - certain sophisticated operations, such as taking the weighted average of one value across another value over some set of elements, can't be done using XSLT (at least not in one pass).
- Kevin
------------------
Kevin Williams
Senior System Architect, Equient Corporation
author of:
Professional XML Databases
Kevin Williams<BR>Senior System Architect, Equient Corporation<BR>author of: <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1861003587/electricporkchop" TARGET=_blank rel="nofollow">Professional XML Databases</A>