XSL: How do I assign the value of an XML element to a variable (minimal change to page below)?

Question

See xslt to operate on element value before displaying? for the original XML and XSL. I got an answer to my question there.

My other question on this same XML/XSL is: if I would like to capture the value of an element (such as the "title" element) in an XSL local variable, and then operate on it, how do I capture that value and assign it to a variable? I have the feeling it has something to do with XSL "param", but I am not sure.

So, on that same code, what is the minimal change to the XSL so that I'll have the value of title in a variable?

Answer 1

You use the xsl:variable statement to create a variable. Either of the following will work

<xsl:variable name="cdtitle"><xsl:value-of select="title"/></xsl:variable>
<xsl:variable name="cdtitle" select="title"/>

They statement in this case would have to be within the loop.

To use the variable, you can then just do this, assuming the variable is in scope.

<xsl:value-of select="$cdtitle"/>

Please note, despite the name, xsl:variables are not variable. Once set, they cannot be changed. You would have to create a new variable with a new name if you wanted to modify the value.