expanding/collapsing nested nodes in xslt

Question

I have an xml in the following format;

.
.
.
.

     stdate1 
     endate1 

        

Answer 1

Break your XSL into multiple templates

It's good practice to use many templates rather then one with "hidden" <xsl:for-each> elements.

BasePeriod:

<xsl:template match="SvcPeriods/BasePeriod">
    <tr>
        <td>
            <xsl:value-of select="startDate"/>
        </td>
        <td>
            <xsl:value-of select="endDate"/>
        </td>
        <td>
            <a href="javascript:expandIt(per_expand{position()},
                per_expand{position()})"
                name="period_expand{position()}" class="expandit">Periods</a>
            <div id="per_expand{position()}" style="display:none;">
                <table>
                    <tr>
                        <th> Start Date </th>
                        <th> End Date </th>
                        <th> Sub Periods </th>
                        <th> Type </th>
                    </tr>
                    <xsl:apply-templates select="Period"/>
                </table>
            </div>
        </td>
    </tr>

    <xsl:call-template name="expandIt"/>
</xsl:template>

Period:

<xsl:template match="Period">
    <tr>
        <td>
            <xsl:value-of select="start"/>
        </td>
        <td>
            <xsl:value-of select="end"/>
        </td>
        <td>
            <a href="javascript:expandIt(subper_expand{position()},
                subperiod_expand{position()})"
                name="subperiod_expand{position()}" 
                class="expandit">Sub Periods</a> 
            <div id="subper_expand{position()}" style="display:none;">
                <table>
                    <tr>
                        <th> Start Date </th>
                        <th> End Date </th>
                    </tr>
                    <xsl:apply-templates select="subperiod"/>
                </table>
            </div>
        </td>
        <td>
            <xsl:value-of select="type"/>
        </td>
    </tr>
</xsl:template>

subperiod:

<xsl:template match="subperiod">
    <tr>
        <td>
            <xsl:value-of select="substart"/>
        </td>
        <td>
            <xsl:value-of select="subend"/>
        </td>
    </tr>
</xsl:template>

expandIt:

<xsl:template name="expandIt">
    <script language="JavaScript">
    function expandIt(whichEl, link) {
        whichEl.style.display = (whichEl.style.display == "none" ) ? "" : "none";
        if ( link ) { 
             if ( link.innerHTML ) {
                if ( whichEl.style.display == "none" ) {
                      link.innerHTML = "[+] " + link.innerHTML.substring( 4 );
                   } else {
                      link.innerHTML = "[-] " + link.innerHTML.substring( 4 );
                   }
             }
         }
     }
    </script>       
</xsl:template>

---

As you see I changed:

<a href="javascript:expandIt(subper_expand{position()}),
    subperiod_expand{position()}"

to:

<a href="javascript:expandIt(subper_expand{position()},
    subperiod_expand{position()})"

(same for per_expand). Result (using Opera):

Next (clicking Periods link):

Next (clicking sub periods):

It seems to be ok, expanding and collapsing work as expected.