Transforming XML to XML via XSLT

Question

I'm really struggling transforming some XML. I'm usually OK with XSLT but it might be the root element causing me problems in the XML. I would really appreciate some guidance.

Existing XML:

<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<asx:abap xmlns:asx="http://www.testsrvXXXX.com/abdxml" version="1.0">
<asx:values>

<META>

 <XOUTPUT>
  <FIELDNAME>Make</FIELDNAME> 
  <OUTPUTLEN>000130</OUTPUTLEN> 
  <TYPE>CHAR</TYPE> 
  <SRC_TEXT>Make</SRC_TEXT> 
 </XOUTPUT>

 <XOUTPUT>
  <FIELDNAME>Model</FIELDNAME> 
  <OUTPUTLEN>000130</OUTPUTLEN> 
  <TYPE>CHAR</TYPE> 
  <SRC_TEXT>Car Model</SRC_TEXT> 
 <XOUTPUT>

 <XOUTPUT>
  <FIELDNAME>Engine</FIELDNAME> 
  <OUTPUTLEN>000130</OUTPUTLEN> 
  <TYPE>CHAR</TYPE> 
  <SRC_TEXT>Engine Size</SRC_TEXT> 
 </XOUTPUT>

 <XOUTPUT>
  <FIELDNAME>Type</FIELDNAME> 
  <OUTPUTLEN>000130</OUTPUTLEN> 
  <TYPE>CHAR</TYPE> 
  <SRC_TEXT>Fuel Type</SRC_TEXT> 
 </XOUTPUT>

 <XOUTPUT>
  <FIELDNAME>Colour</FIELDNAME> 
  <OUTPUTLEN>000130</OUTPUTLEN> 
  <TYPE>CHAR</TYPE> 
  <SRC_TEXT>Paint Colour</SRC_TEXT> 
 </XOUTPUT>

 <XOUTPUT>
  <FIELDNAME>Doors</FIELDNAME> 
  <OUTPUTLEN>000130</OUTPUTLEN> 
  <TYPE>NUM</TYPE> 
  <SRC_TEXT>Door Count</SRC_TEXT> 
 </XOUTPUT>

 <XOUTPUT>
  <FIELDNAME>Speed</FIELDNAME> 
  <OUTPUTLEN>000130</OUTPUTLEN> 
  <TYPE>NUM</TYPE> 
  <SRC_TEXT>Top Speed</SRC_TEXT> 
 </XOUTPUT>

 <XOUTPUT>
  <FIELDNAME>Service</FIELDNAME> 
  <OUTPUTLEN>000130</OUTPUTLEN> 
  <TYPE>CHAR</TYPE> 
  <SRC_TEXT>Service Intervals</SRC_TEXT> 
 </XOUTPUT>

</META>

<Y_OUTPUT>
 <item>
  <Make>Volkswagen</Make> 
  <Service>20000 KM</Service> 
  <Model>Golf</Model> 
  <Speed>190 KPH</Speed> 
  <Engine>1400 CC</Engine> 
  <Type>Diesel</Type> 
  <Colour>Black</Colour> 
  <Doors>3</Doors> 
 </item>
 <item>
  <Make>Ford</Make> 
  <Service>15000 KM</Service> 
  <Model>Fiesta</Model> 
  <Speed>180 KPH</Speed> 
  <Engine>1400 CC</Engine> 
  <Type>Petrol</Type> 
  <Colour>Red</Colour> 
  <Doors>5</Doors> 
 </item>
</Y_OUTPUT>
</asx:values>
</asx:abap>

The transformed XML needs to look like:

<Cars>
  <Record>
   <Make>Volkswagen</Make>
   <Service>20000 KM</Service>
   <Model>Golf</Model>
   <Speed>190 KPH</Speed>
   <Engine>1400 CC</Engine>
   <Type>Diesel</Type>
   <Colour>Black</Colour>
   <Doors>3</Doors>
 </Record>
 <Record>
   <Make>Ford</Make>
   <Service>15000 KM</Service>
   <Model>Fiesta</Model>
   <Speed>180 KPH</Speed>
   <Engine>1400 CC</Engine>
   <Type>Petrol</Type>
   <Colour>Red</Colour>
   <Doors>5</Doors>
 </Record>
</Cars>

My XSLT:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:template match="/">
<xsl:for-each select="Y_OUTPUT/ITEM">
<Cars>
        <Record>
            <Make><xsl:value-of select="Make"/></Make>
            <Service><xsl:value-of select="Service"/></Service> 
            <Model><xsl:value-of select="Model"/></Model>
            <Speed><xsl:value-of select="Speed"/></Speed>
            <Engine><xsl:value-of select="Engine"/></Engine> 
            <Type><xsl:value-of select="Type"/></Type>
            <Colour><xsl:value-of select="Colour"/></Colour> 
            <Doors><xsl:value-of select="Doors"/></Doors> 
        </Record>
</Cars>
</xsl:for-each>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

After fixing 2 things, it works: first, your second XOUTPUT tag is not closed properly (the / is missing from the closing tag). Second, in the xslt, I just changed the select of the for-each to: "//Y_OUTPUT/item" — Maria Ivanova

Daniel Haley Daniel Haley · Accepted Answer · 2017-03-21T21:38:51

I think the problem is that you match / in your template, but then start the xsl:for-each select with Y_OUTPUT and Y_OUTPUT isn't the root element in your XML input.

You can update your xsl:for-each to start where the template match left off (the current context).

You can also add a second xsl:for-each to handle the creation of the child elements without namespace declarations...

<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
  <xsl:output indent="yes"/>
  <xsl:strip-space elements="*"/>

  <xsl:template match="/*">
    <Cars>
      <xsl:for-each select="*/Y_OUTPUT/item">
        <Record>
          <xsl:for-each select="*">
            <xsl:element name="{local-name()}">
              <xsl:value-of select="."/>
            </xsl:element>
          </xsl:for-each>
        </Record>
      </xsl:for-each>
    </Cars>    
  </xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

An alternative would be to use xsl:apply-templates.

It's a few more lines, but a good pattern (push) to use when creating more complicated transforms...

<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
  <xsl:output indent="yes"/>
  <xsl:strip-space elements="*"/>

  <xsl:template match="/*">
    <Cars>
      <xsl:apply-templates select="*/Y_OUTPUT/item"/>
    </Cars>    
  </xsl:template>

  <xsl:template match="item">
    <Record>
      <xsl:apply-templates/>
    </Record>
  </xsl:template>

  <xsl:template match="item/*">
    <xsl:element name="{local-name()}">
      <xsl:apply-templates/>
    </xsl:element>
  </xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

It helps to fully understand XSLTs built-in template rules to know how the template above is working.

Transforming XML to XML via XSLT

1 Answers