Hi All,
 
I am unable to come up with a suitable workaround to kick in when an element is not available. Below are various approaches attempted without success:
 
Scenario   
A. <xsl:template match="/">
  <area>
    <xsl:apply-templates select="//ns:p"/>
      <xsl:variable name="hobbie" select="ns:p[ns:strong='Hobbie:']"/>
      <xsl:apply-templates select="$hobbie"/>
      <xsl:choose>
        <xsl:when test="empty($hobbie)">
          <xsl:variable name="no_hobbie" select="true"/>  
        </xsl:when>
        <xsl:otherwise>
          <xsl:variable name="no_hobbie" select="false"/>
        </xsl:otherwise>
      </xsl:choose>
  </area>
</xsl:template>
 
<xsl:if test="${no_hobbie} = 'false'">
  <xsl:template match="ns:p[ns:strong='Hobbie:']">
    <xsl:for-each select="text()[normalize-space() != '']"> 
      <hobbie><xsl:value-of select="normalize-space()"/></hobbie> 
    </xsl:for-each> 
  </xsl:template> 
</xsl:if>
  
Compilation error Error at xsl:if on line 35 column 41 
  XPST0003: XPath syntax error at char 1 on line 35 in {${no_hobbies}:
    expected "<name>", found "{"
Error at xsl:if on line 35 column 41 
  XTSE0010: Element xsl:if must not appear directly within xsl:stylesheet
Warning: at xsl:variable on line 13 column 59 
  SXWN9001: A variable with no following sibling instructions has no effect
Warning: at xsl:variable on line 16 column 60 
  SXWN9001: A variable with no following sibling instructions has no effect
Error at xsl:template on line 36 column 53 
  XTSE0010: An xsl:if element must not contain an xsl:template element
Error at xsl:template on line 36 column 53 
  XTSE0010: Element must be used only at top level of stylesheet 
B. <xsl:template match="/">
  <area>
    <xsl:apply-templates select="//ns:p"/>
      <xsl:variable name="hobbie" select="ns:p[ns:strong='Hobbie:']"/>
      <xsl:apply-templates select="$hobbie"/>
      <xsl:choose>
        <xsl:when test="empty($hobbie)">
          <hobbie>Unknown</hobbie>  
        </xsl:when>
        <xsl:otherwise>
          <xsl:template match="ns:p[ns:strong='Hobbie:']"> 
            <xsl:for-each select="text()[normalize-space() != '']"> 
              <hobbie><xsl:value-of select="normalize-space()"/></hobbie> 
            </xsl:for-each> 
          </xsl:template>
        </xsl:otherwise>
      </xsl:choose>
  </area>
</xsl:template>
  
Compilation error Error at xsl:template on line 17 column 61 
  XTSE0010: An xsl:otherwise element must not contain an xsl:template element
Error at xsl:template on line 17 column 61 
  XTSE0010: Element must be used only at top level of stylesheet 
C. <xsl:template match="/">
  <area>
    <xsl:apply-templates select="//ns:p"/>
      <xsl:variable name="hobbie" select="ns:p[ns:strong='Hobbie:']"/>
      <xsl:apply-templates select="$hobbie"/>
      <xsl:choose>
        <xsl:when test="empty($hobbie)">
          <hobbie>Unknown</hobbie>  
        </xsl:when>
        <xsl:otherwise>
            <xsl:call-template name="hobbie"/>
        </xsl:otherwise>
      </xsl:choose>
  </area>
</xsl:template>
 
<xsl:template name="hobbie" match="ns:p[ns:strong='Hobbie:']">
  <xsl:for-each select="text()[normalize-space() != '']"> 
    <hobbie><xsl:value-of select="normalize-space()"/></hobbie> 
  </xsl:for-each> 
</xsl:template>
  
Output <hobbie>fishing</hobbie>      // should pick up the valid element if there is one exist.
<hobbie>Unknown</hobbie>  // only create a default element value when no such element exist.  
D. <xsl:template match="/">
  <area>
    <xsl:apply-templates select="//ns:p"/>
      <xsl:variable name="hobbie" select="ns:p[ns:strong='Hobbie:']"/>
      <xsl:apply-templates select="$hobbie"/>
      <xsl:if test="empty($hobbie)">
          <hobbie>Unknown</hobbie>  
      </xsl:if>
  </area>
</xsl:template>
 
<xsl:template match="ns:p[ns:strong='Hobbie:']">
  <xsl:for-each select="text()[normalize-space() != '']"> 
    <hobbie><xsl:value-of select="normalize-space()"/></hobbie> 
  </xsl:for-each> 
</xsl:template>
  
Output <hobbie>fishing</hobbie>      // should pick up the valid element if there is one exist.
<hobbie>Unknown</hobbie>  // only create a default element value when no such element exist. 
 
I am very new XSLT and can do with some helpful suggestion.
 
Many thanks,
Jack


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