<robinchesterman@g...> wrote in message 
news:1970fd18-006d-499a-8597-4c94fb558d82@j......
> I've just started using xslt, and it seems straightforward enough (for
> now!). I am using a simple xsl template to format and display news
> items from an rss news feed:
>
> <xsl:template match="rss">
>       <xsl:apply-templates select="channel"/>
> </xsl:template>
>
> <xsl:template match="channel">
>       <xsl:apply-templates select="item"/>
> </xsl:template>
>
> <xsl:template match="item">
>      <dt>
>           <a href="/"><xsl:value-of select="title"/></a>
>      </dt>
>      <dd>
>            <ul>
>                <li>
>                    <a><xsl:attribute name="href"><xsl:value-of
> select="link"/></xsl:attribute>
>                           <xsl:value-of select="description"/>
>                    </a>
>                </li>
>             </ul>
>       </dd>
> </xsl:template>
>
>
> However, in another section of the site I'm building, I would like to
> display only the four or so most recent items of the rss feed, rather
> than the whole lot.
>
> Can anyone tell me how to do this using xslt functions? As you will
> see, at the moment my knowledge is limited to applying a blanket
> template to every item.
>
> Any help would be very much appreciated.
>
> Many thanks,
>
> Robin
Use the position() function in the item template:
<xsl:template match="item">
  <xsl:if test="position() &lt; 5">

  </xsl:if>
</xsl:template>


-- 

Joe Fawcett (MVP - XML)
http://joe.fawcett.name