Phase 4 · Reference Material
Phase 4 extends the XSLT Library with reusable XSLT 1.0 templates and transformation patterns.
Copies the full XML document unless overridden by another template.
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:output method="xml" indent="yes"/>
<xsl:template match="@*|node()">
<xsl:copy>
<xsl:apply-templates select="@*|node()"/>
</xsl:copy>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>Use as the base for most XML cleanup transforms.
Add override templates after the identity template.
Removes all matching nodes from the output.
<xsl:template match="SensitiveNode"/>Use when a field, node, or section must be excluded.
Make the match specific enough to avoid removing valid nodes.
Copies the element name but changes the value.
<xsl:template match="TargetField">
<xsl:copy>Redacted Value</xsl:copy>
</xsl:template>Use for redaction or calculated replacement values.
This drops attributes unless you also apply templates to @*.
Outputs content only when a condition is true.
<xsl:if test="normalize-space(FieldName) != ''">
<HasValue>true</HasValue>
</xsl:if>Use for simple one-condition output.
For if/else behavior, use xsl:choose.
Provides if/elseif/else style branching.
<xsl:choose>
<xsl:when test="Status = 'Open'">Open</xsl:when>
<xsl:when test="Status = 'Closed'">Closed</xsl:when>
<xsl:otherwise>Unknown</xsl:otherwise>
</xsl:choose>Use for multiple possible output values.
Keep conditions readable and ordered from specific to general.
Loops through selected nodes.
<xsl:for-each select="Detail">
<Line>
<xsl:value-of select="FieldName"/>
</Line>
</xsl:for-each>Use when building a new structure from repeated nodes.
Prefer apply-templates for larger, template-driven transforms.
Sorts repeated nodes by a field.
<xsl:for-each select="Detail">
<xsl:sort select="SortField" data-type="text" order="ascending"/>
<xsl:copy-of select="."/>
</xsl:for-each>Use when output order matters.
Sorting text numbers can produce unexpected order.
Outputs the string value of a selected node.
<xsl:value-of select="FieldName"/>Use for simple field output.
If multiple nodes match, XPath 1.0 returns the first in document order.
Copies the selected node and its descendants.
<xsl:copy-of select="Detail"/>Use for quickly copying a complete subtree.
Cannot selectively modify descendants inside copy-of.
Stores a reusable value.
<xsl:variable name="docNumber" select="Header/DocumentNumber"/>
<xsl:value-of select="$docNumber"/>Use to avoid repeating long XPath expressions.
Variables are immutable in XSLT 1.0.
Outputs a sequence number for the current context.
<xsl:number count="Detail" level="single"/>Use for line numbering.
The count pattern must match the nodes being numbered.
Replaces sensitive values with a placeholder.
<xsl:template match="CustomerName | EmailAddress | InternalUrl">
<xsl:copy><Redacted></xsl:copy>
</xsl:template>Use when preparing reusable documentation samples.
Keep real values out of the published sample entirely.
Phase 5 adds related-topic guidance to reduce duplicate entries and make reusable patterns easier to find.