How to Add a Line Counter for Each XML Element in XSL?

[Natalie Kopple]

I have converted an XML file to a text file using XSL. The output is the value of each XML element. And I put a line break after each output value:

M
Active, chronic unspecified sleep apnea.
20080625095230
TRAN, NGO
20080625103206
EL PASO VA HCS
123.6
20071127
756
Location N
Unspecified Sleep APNEA
20071127
Problem ID
Provider
Unspecified Sle
I
SLEEP

How do I put a line counter for each XML element, so that the output looks like

1^M
2^Active, chronic unspecified sleep apnea.
3^20080625095230
4^TRAN, NGO
5^20080625103206
6^EL PASO VA HCS
7^123.6
8^20071127
9^756
10^Location N
11^Unspecified Sleep APNEA
12^20071127
13^Problem ID
14^Provider
15^Unspecified Sle
16^I
17^SLEEP

My XSL file looks like:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version="1.0">
    <xsl:output  method="text"  indent="yes"  omit-xml-declaration="yes"  standalone="yes"  encoding="ISO-8859-1" />
    <xsl:strip-space elements="*"/>    
    
    <xsl:template match="problemBean" >
        
            <xsl:if test="position() > 1">
                <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>   
            </xsl:if>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" >            
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="acuity"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="1"/>
            </xsl:call-template>
            
            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" >            
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="comment"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="100"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" >            
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="encounterDate"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="14"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" >            
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="enteredBy"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="15"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" >            
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="enteredDate"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="14"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" >            
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="hospitalLocation"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="35"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" >            
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="icdCode"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="5"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" >            
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="lastModifiedDate"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="14"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" >            
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="locationCode"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="3"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" >            
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="locationName"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="10"/>
            </xsl:call-template>            

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" >            
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="longDescription"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="50"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
                        
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" >            
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="onsetDate"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="14"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" >            
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="problemId"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="10"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" >            
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="provider"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="15"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" >            
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="shortDescription"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="15"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" >            
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="status"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="1"/>
            </xsl:call-template>            

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" >            
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="type"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="5"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

    </xsl:template>
    
    
    
    <!-- ################################################# -->
    <!-- ###### Functions for Padding / Resizing etc ################-->    
    <!-- ################################################# -->
    
    <xsl:template name="resize">
        <xsl:param name="val"/>
        <xsl:param name="len"/>
        <xsl:param name="char"/>
        <xsl:choose>
            <xsl:when  test="string-length($val)>$len">
                <xsl:value-of select="substring($val, 1,$len + 1)"/>
            </xsl:when>
            <xsl:otherwise>    
                <xsl:call-template name="append-pad">
                    <xsl:with-param name="length" select="$len"/>
                    <xsl:with-param name="padChar" select="$char"/>
                    <xsl:with-param name="padVar" select="$val"/>
                </xsl:call-template>
            </xsl:otherwise>
        </xsl:choose>
    </xsl:template>

    <xsl:template name="clip">
        <xsl:param name="val"/>
        <xsl:param name="len"/>
        <xsl:choose>
            <xsl:when  test="string-length($val)>$len">
                <xsl:value-of select="substring($val, 1, $len)"/>
            </xsl:when>
            <xsl:otherwise>    
                <xsl:value-of select="$val"/>
            </xsl:otherwise>
        </xsl:choose>
    </xsl:template>    
    
    <xsl:template name="append-pad">    
        <!-- recursive template to left justify and append  -->
        <!-- the value with whatever padChar is passed in   -->
        <xsl:param name="padChar"> </xsl:param>
        <xsl:param name="padVar"/>
        <xsl:param name="length"/>
        <xsl:choose>
            <xsl:when test="string-length($padVar) < $length">
                <xsl:call-template name="append-pad">
                    <xsl:with-param name="padChar" select="$padChar"/>
                    <xsl:with-param name="padVar" select="concat($padVar,$padChar)"/>
                    <xsl:with-param name="length" select="$length"/>
                </xsl:call-template>
            </xsl:when>
            <xsl:otherwise>
                <xsl:value-of select="substring($padVar,1,$length)"/>
            </xsl:otherwise>
        </xsl:choose>
    </xsl:template>
    
    <xsl:template name="prepend-pad">    
        <!-- recursive template to right justify and prepend-->
        <!-- the value with whatever padChar is passed in   -->
        <xsl:param name="padChar"> </xsl:param>
        <xsl:param name="padVar"/>
        <xsl:param name="length"/>
        <xsl:choose>
            <xsl:when test="string-length($padVar) < $length">
                <xsl:call-template name="prepend-pad">
                    <xsl:with-param name="padChar" select="$padChar"/>
                    <xsl:with-param name="padVar" select="concat($padChar,$padVar)"/>
                    <xsl:with-param name="length" select="$length"/>
                </xsl:call-template>
            </xsl:when>
            <xsl:otherwise>
                <xsl:value-of select="substring($padVar,string-length($padVar) -
                    $length + 1)"/>
            </xsl:otherwise>
        </xsl:choose>
    </xsl:template>
   
    
</xsl:stylesheet>

Thanks in advance.

[Paul Clapham]

You pass the line numbers as another parameter to the "clip" template:
<xsl:call-template name="clip" > <xsl:with-param name="seq" select="1"/> <xsl:with-param name="val" select="acuity"/> <xsl:with-param name="len" select="1"/> </xsl:call-template>

(By the way I hope that isn't medical information about a real person. Please edit your post as soon as possible if it is.)

[Natalie Kopple]

I made up the data for a medical record. There is no patient name shown in my post.

I have tried what you suggested. But nothing happens - a number does not appear in front of the value of each XML element. The output still looks like:

M
Active, chronic unspecified sleep apnea.
20080625095230
TRAN, NGO
...
...

The format that is desired to be displyed is 1. element count number + 2. caret symbol + 3. the value of the XML element; for example:

1^M
2^Active, chronic unspecified sleep apnea.
3^20080625095230
4^TRAN, NGO
...
...

The XSL code now looks like (a counter number is not inserted in the front of each line of the output):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version="1.0">
    <xsl:output  method="text"  indent="yes"  omit-xml-declaration="yes"  standalone="yes"  encoding="ISO-8859-1" />
    <xsl:strip-space elements="*"/>    
      
    <xsl:template match="problemBean" >
        
            <xsl:if test="position() > 1">
                <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>   
            </xsl:if>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" >
            	<xsl:with-param name="seq" select="1"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="acuity"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="1"/>
            </xsl:call-template>
            
            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" >
            	<xsl:with-param name="seq" select="2"/>             
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="comment"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="100"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" > 
            	<xsl:with-param name="seq" select="3"/>                       
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="encounterDate"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="14"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" >
            	<xsl:with-param name="seq" select="4"/>            
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="enteredBy"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="15"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" >
            	<xsl:with-param name="seq" select="5"/>            
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="enteredDate"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="14"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" > 
            	<xsl:with-param name="seq" select="6"/>           
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="hospitalLocation"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="35"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" > 
            	<xsl:with-param name="seq" select="7"/>           
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="icdCode"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="5"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" > 
            	<xsl:with-param name="seq" select="8"/>           
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="lastModifiedDate"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="14"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" > 
            	<xsl:with-param name="seq" select="9"/>           
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="locationCode"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="3"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" > 
            	<xsl:with-param name="seq" select="10"/>           
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="locationName"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="10"/>
            </xsl:call-template>            

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" >
            	<xsl:with-param name="seq" select="11"/>            
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="longDescription"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="50"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
                        
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" >
            	<xsl:with-param name="seq" select="12"/>            
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="onsetDate"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="14"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" > 
            	<xsl:with-param name="seq" select="13"/>           
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="problemId"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="10"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" > 
            	<xsl:with-param name="seq" select="14"/>           
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="provider"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="15"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" >
            	<xsl:with-param name="seq" select="15"/>            
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="shortDescription"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="15"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" > 
            	<xsl:with-param name="seq" select="16"/>           
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="status"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="1"/>
            </xsl:call-template>            

            <xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
            
            <xsl:call-template name="clip" > 
            	<xsl:with-param name="seq" select="17"/>           
                <xsl:with-param name="val" select="type"/>
                <xsl:with-param name="len" select="5"/>
            </xsl:call-template>

    </xsl:template>
    
    
    
    <!-- ################################################# -->
    <!-- ###### Functions for Padding / Resizing etc ################-->    
    <!-- ################################################# -->
    
    <xsl:template name="resize">
        <xsl:param name="val"/>
        <xsl:param name="len"/>
        <xsl:param name="char"/>
        <xsl:choose>
            <xsl:when  test="string-length($val)>$len">
                <xsl:value-of select="substring($val, 1,$len + 1)"/>
            </xsl:when>
            <xsl:otherwise>    
                <xsl:call-template name="append-pad">
                    <xsl:with-param name="length" select="$len"/>
                    <xsl:with-param name="padChar" select="$char"/>
                    <xsl:with-param name="padVar" select="$val"/>
                </xsl:call-template>
            </xsl:otherwise>
        </xsl:choose>
    </xsl:template>

    <xsl:template name="clip">
    	<xsl:param name="caret"/>
        <xsl:param name="val"/>
        <xsl:param name="len"/>
        <xsl:choose>
            <xsl:when  test="string-length($val)>$len">
                <xsl:value-of select="substring($val, 1, $len)"/>
            </xsl:when>
            <xsl:otherwise>    
                <xsl:value-of select="$val"/>
            </xsl:otherwise>
        </xsl:choose>
    </xsl:template>    
    
    <xsl:template name="append-pad">    
        <!-- recursive template to left justify and append  -->
        <!-- the value with whatever padChar is passed in   -->
        <xsl:param name="padChar"> </xsl:param>
        <xsl:param name="padVar"/>
        <xsl:param name="length"/>
        <xsl:choose>
            <xsl:when test="string-length($padVar) < $length">
                <xsl:call-template name="append-pad">
                    <xsl:with-param name="padChar" select="$padChar"/>
                    <xsl:with-param name="padVar" select="concat($padVar,$padChar)"/>
                    <xsl:with-param name="length" select="$length"/>
                </xsl:call-template>
            </xsl:when>
            <xsl:otherwise>
                <xsl:value-of select="substring($padVar,1,$length)"/>
            </xsl:otherwise>
        </xsl:choose>
    </xsl:template>
    
    <xsl:template name="prepend-pad">    
        <!-- recursive template to right justify and prepend-->
        <!-- the value with whatever padChar is passed in   -->
        <xsl:param name="padChar"> </xsl:param>
        <xsl:param name="padVar"/>
        <xsl:param name="length"/>
        <xsl:choose>
            <xsl:when test="string-length($padVar) < $length">
                <xsl:call-template name="prepend-pad">
                    <xsl:with-param name="padChar" select="$padChar"/>
                    <xsl:with-param name="padVar" select="concat($padChar,$padVar)"/>
                    <xsl:with-param name="length" select="$length"/>
                </xsl:call-template>
            </xsl:when>
            <xsl:otherwise>
                <xsl:value-of select="substring($padVar,string-length($padVar) -
                    $length + 1)"/>
            </xsl:otherwise>
        </xsl:choose>
    </xsl:template>
   
    
</xsl:stylesheet>

[Paul Clapham]

You do have to change the "clip" template to output the sequence number. Sorry, I thought that would be obvious so I didn't provide the full solution.

[Natalie Kopple]

It is not obvious to me. I am new to all XML related technologies. For adding a numbering, I am thinking along the line of:

<xsl:number count="an XPath expression that specifies what nodes are to be counted" format="1"/>

but, I still have difficult time to figure it out.

[Paul Clapham]

No, no, no. The "clip" template should simply copy the sequence number parameter to the output.

There aren't any XSLT constructs which can work on nodes in the output. And there isn't anything in your input document which can be examined to produce a numbering system (at least not from what I can see from your input document). So the simplest thing is to produce your own sequence numbers, which is anyway trivially simple to do in the sample of XSLT which you posted. You already did half of that by choosing the sequence numbers. The second half is to use them.

[Natalie Kopple]

I got it. Thank you.