Never mind guys - I found a way to do it :-) Thanks again to both of
you for invaluable help! :-)

Best regards,
Roger


On 26 Feb, 21:55, roger <ro...@langedal.com> wrote:
> Thank you Martin!
>
> Putting it all together:
>
> ------ snippet ---------
>   <xsl:template match="@* | node()">
>     <xsl:copy>
>       <xsl:apply-templates select="@* | node()"/>
>     </xsl:copy>
>   </xsl:template>
>
>   <xsl:template match="author"/>
>
>   <xsl:template match="author[@name = 'whatever_name_of_author]">
>     <xsl:copy>
>       <xsl:apply-templates select="@*"/> <-- I want the attributes
>       <xsl:apply-templates
> select="book[NOT(contains(@title,'do_not_include_this_title))]"/>
>     </xsl:copy>
>   </xsl:template>
> ----- snippet ------
>
> As I wanted to exclude the title I was searching for I've added the
> not clause.
>
> But one last thing - forgive me the stupid example with the books xml,
> but my real world example is a bit more complex.
> But for the sake of simplifying and sticking to the example:
> What if I the books where nested and I wanted the "<xsl:apply-
> templates
> select="book[NOT(contains(@title,'do_not_include_this_title))]"/>"
> to apply to all nested elements - no matter how deep they were
> appearing under an author i still want to check the "title" attribute,
> and if I find a book I do not like, discard it?
>
> So - how do I shred away the <book title="title_212"/> from the XML
> below when I do not know where in the structure it is , only that it
> is below an author by a given name?
>
>      <author lastname="lastname_2" givenname="given_2">
>        <book title="title_21"/>
>        <book title="title_22"/>
>            <book title="title_211"/>
>                 <book title="title_212"/>
>        <book title="title_23"/>
>     </author>
>
> And again - thank you for taking the time to show me how this is done
> - I've already learned a lot, and will keep digging :-)
>
> <xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
> xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
>
>      <xsl:template match="@* | node()">
>          <xsl:copy>
>              <xsl:apply-templates select="@* | node()"/>
>          </xsl:copy>
>      </xsl:template>
>
>    <xsl:template match="author[@lastname != 'lastname_2']"/>
>
> </xsl:stylesheet>
>
> On 26 Feb, 14:24, Martin Honnen <mahotr...@yahoo.de> wrote:
>
>
>
> > roger wrote:
> > > if it possible to select all childelements of an "author" element -
> > > EXCLUDING a few - based on the "title" attribute of the "book" element
> > > in this example?
>
> > Well you could write a template for author elements that processes only
> > some book child elements e.g.
> >    <xsl:template match="author">
> >      <xsl:copy>
> >        <xsl:apply-templates select="@*"/>
> >        <xsl:apply-templates select="book[contains(@title,'foo')]"/>
> >      </xsl:copy>
> >    </xsl:template>
>
> > --
>
> >         Martin Honnen --- MVP XML
> >        http://JavaScript.FAQTs.com/- Skjul sitert tekst -
>
> - Vis sitert tekst -