XSLT templates and recursion

Question

Im new to XSLT and am having some problems trying to format an XML document which has recursive nodes.

My XML Code:

Hopefully my XML shows:

• All

Answer 1

This is easy. The XSLT processor does all the recursion and the looping for you, all you need to do is to specify templates for nodes you want to handle.

The always is the recursive/iterative step in XSLT. It takes any nodes that fit its select expression and finds templates for them.

Your job is it to craft an appropriate select expression, supply a template for every node you want to handle and otherwise get out of the way. ;-) Resist the urge to cram everything into one big template or use just because it feels convenient - it is not. Separate templates create more reusable and maintainable, less deeply nested code, and XSLT processors are optimized for template handling, so this might even be the more efficient approach.