Martin Honnen wrote:
> tshad wrote:
>
>> It seems that only the 1st template is the driving template, similar
>> to Main() in C or the startup function in any program.  If I don't
>> call any other function, from a startup function then only the
>> startup function gets executed even if there there are other
>> functions in my program (discounting events, of course).
>>
>> In XSLT, it seems that the 1st template is like your startup routine.
>
> No, processing does not start at the first template. Processing starts
> at the root node (document node) of your primary XML input document,
> see <URL:http://www.w3.org/TR/xslt#section-Processing-Model>. Then
> the best matching template is used and its content determines which
> nodes are processed next. And there is a built-in template
> (<URL:http://www.w3.org/TR/xslt#built-in-rule>)
>   <xsl:template match="*|/">
>     <xsl:apply-templates/>
>   </xsl:template>
> which makes sure the child nodes of the root node are processed.
> So in your sample XML input the above built-in template is the first
> template to be applied, then the child nodes of the root node
> (document node) are processed which is the 'REPORT' element. As you
> have a matching template for 'REPORT' elements that template is
> applied. And the xsl:apply-templates in that template determine which
> nodes are processed next, and pattern matching determines which
> templates are applied to these nodes.

If it decides which one to choose, why if you have the pattern:

<xsl:template match="FIELDS/*[starts-with(name(), 'SCMCOMMENTS')]">

does it know to use this one:

     <xsl:apply-templates select="FORMS/FORM/FIELDS/*[starts-with(name(),
'SCMCOMMENTS')]"/>

They aren't the same - but they are similar.  Why did you leave FORMS/FORM/ 
off of the template but not the apply-template?

In my template, I now have:

            <xsl:apply-templates
        select="FORMS/FORM/FIELDS/*[not(starts-with(name(), 'SCMCOMMENTS')) 
and
                not(starts-with(name(), 'GEN_COMMENTS')) and
                not(starts-with(name(), 'CMTCONDITION')) and
                not(starts-with(name(), 'CSTCOMMENTS')) and
                not(starts-with(name(), 'SITE_OPINION')) and
                not(starts-with(name(), 'CMPHIST_TXT')) and
                not(starts-with(name(), 'GSU') and ../../@FORMCODE = '(AC)') 
and
                not(name() = 'OTHERFILENUMBER' and ../../@FORMCODE = '(AC)') 
and
                not(name() = 'FNMA_FILENUMBER' and ../../@FORMCODE = 
'(AC)')]"/>

and the template is:

    <xsl:template match="FIELDS/*[not(starts-with(name(), 'SCMCOMMENTS')) 
and
                not(starts-with(name(), 'GEN_COMMENTS')) and
                not(starts-with(name(), 'CMTCONDITION')) and
                not(starts-with(name(), 'CSTCOMMENTS')) and
                not(starts-with(name(), 'SITE_OPINION')) and
                not(starts-with(name(), 'CMPHIST_TXT')) and
                not(starts-with(name(), 'GSU') and ../../@FORMCODE = '(AC)') 
and
                not(name() = 'OTHERFILENUMBER' and ../../@FORMCODE = '(AC)') 
and
                not(name() = 'FNMA_FILENUMBER' and ../../@FORMCODE = 
'(AC)')]">

does it have to match exactly (except for the FORMS/FORM/)?

Thanks,

Tom