That's pretty cool. Thanks Dimitre.


On Dec 4, 10:24 pm, "Dimitre Novatchev" <dimit...@tpg.com.au> wrote:
> > I put an example below. So I don't know if this is
> > going to be possible.  If anyone has any other thoughts, either for
> > the first problem as an intellectual exercise, or to the 'revised'
> > situation--including using XSLT or XQuery--that'd be great. Otherwise
> > thanks for all the input!
>
> Of course, this is possible. Below is one XPath expression the evaluation of
> which produces the wanted result:
>
>     for $name in distinct-values(/*/*/*/author)
>       return
>          (concat('Books by ', $name, ': ',
>            string-join(
>                    /Library/Branch/book
>                    /(if(author=$name)
>                        then concat(position(),
>                                    if(following::author[. eq $name])
>                                       then ','
>                                       else ''
>                                    )
>                              else ()
>                      ),
>                      ''
>                   ),
>            '&#xA;'
>           )
>          )
>
> When evaluated with the current document the one supplied in your last
> message, the result is:
>
> Books by John: 1,3,5
>  Books by Mary: 2,6
>  Books by Mark: 4
>
> Cheers,
> Dimitre Novatchev
>
> <nikorom...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:19b702bd-1661-488d-b7fb-715a8b27172e@d......
>
> > Hi Guys
>
> > Thanks for all the input. Dimitre, your suggestion is something I had
> > tried as well. Unfortunately I don't think it quite works... Well,
> > more specially it *does* work for the one example I posted, but
> > imagine if I added another book below the last one with the author
> > Mary. (I put an updated XML snippet below) The the output for John is:
> > 1, 3, 5,
> > (Since the 5th book is no longer the last book overall, a comma is
> > added after the 5.)
>
> > The reason I am trying to use XPath is I am being forced to use Altova
> > StyleVision for this project, and as far as I am aware,  StyleVision
> > won't let me do this any other way (i.e. using the XLST or XQuery).
>
> > After I posted this, I realized the problem is actually more
> > complicated than I had previously thought. The point is actually to
> > create a detailed list of books, sorted by title (title is just
> > another element inside book) with a summary on top telling which books
> > below correspond to the given authors by the position the book appears
> > in the report. I put an example below. So I don't know if this is
> > going to be possible.  If anyone has any other thoughts, either for
> > the first problem as an intellectual exercise, or to the 'revised'
> > situation--including using XSLT or XQuery--that'd be great. Otherwise
> > thanks for all the input!
>
> > Output example
> > Books by John: 1, 2, 5
> > Books by Mary: 3, 6
> > Books by Mark: 4
>
> > Book 1:
> > Title: A Book Title Starting With 'A'
> > Author: John
>
> > Book 2:
> > Title: Books Are Fun!
> > Author: John
>
> > Book 3:
> > Title: Can You Tell Me How To Get To Sesame Street?
> > Author Mary
> > ...
>
> > XML Example
> > <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
> > <Library>
> > <Branch>
> > <book>
> > <author>John</author>
> > </book>
> > <book>
> > <author>Mary</author>
> > </book>
> > </Branch>
> > <Branch>
> > <book>
> > <author>John</author>
> > </book>
> > <book>
> > <author>Mark</author>
> > </book>
> > <book>
> > <author>John</author>
> > </book>
> > <book>
> > <author>Mary</author>
> > </book>
> > </Branch>
> > </Library>
>
> > On Dec 2, 10:26 pm, "Dimitre Novatchev" <dimit...@tpg.com.au> wrote:
> >> "Joe Kesselman" <keshlam-nos...@comcast.net> wrote in message
>
> >>news:gqmdnXmD4cUuFszanZ2dnUVZ_tLinZ2d@c......
>
> >> >>           /(if(author='John')
>
> >> > I believe if/then/else expressions require XPath 2.0 or XQuery. If
> >> > that's
> >> > what you have available, go for it;
>
> >> Yes, this was the code in the OP first post.
>
> >> Cheers,
> >> Dimitre Novatchev