<xsl:value-of. within a tag?

[ahmedtheking]

This is what I'm attempting:

<xsl:for-each select="rss/channel/item">
<li><span class="inner">[b]<a title="<xsl:value-of select="title"/> - <xsl:value-of select="description"/>" href="<xsl:value-of select="link"/>">[/b]<span class="title"><span class="date"><xsl:value-of select="pubdate"/></span> <xsl:value-of select="title"/></span> <span class="des"><xsl:value-of select="description"/> ... Read More</span></a></span></li>
</xsl:for-each>

Now you can see that the <a> tag isn't formed well. What can I do so that I can use the XSL (XML) values within the <a> tag?

[ahmedtheking]

Did a bit of googling:

You use XSL attr tags:

<A>

<xsl:attribute name="href">
<xsl:value-of select="link"/>
</xsl:attribute>
<xsl:value-of select="section"/>

</A>

Another example of setting XML data equal to attributes within a tag:

<img>
<xsl:attribute name="src">
<xsl:value-of select="image" />
</xsl:attribute>
<xsl:attribute name="border">
0
</xsl:attribute>

<xsl:attribute name="width">
80
</xsl:attribute>

<xsl:attribute name="height">
100
</xsl:attribute>

</img>

[john_k]

I have found that always using xsl:element tags is the best way to avoid issues like this.

<xsl:for-each select="rss/channel/item"> 
 <xsl:element name="li"> 
  <xsl:element name="span"> 
   <xsl:attribute name="class">inner</xsl:attribute> 
   <xsl:element name="a"> 
    <xsl:attribute name="title"><xsl:value-of select="title"/></xsl:attribute> 
    - 
    <xsl:attribute name="title"><xsl:value-of select="description"/></xsl:attribute> 
    <xsl:attribute name="href"><xsl:value-of select="link"/></xsl:attribute> 
    <xsl:element name="span"> 
     <xsl:attribute name="class">title</xsl:attribute> 
     <xsl:element name="span"> 
      <xsl:attribute name="class">date</xsl:attribute> 
      <xsl:value-of select="pubdate"/> 
     </xsl:element> 
     <xsl:value-of select="title"/> 
    </xsl:element> 
    <xsl:element name="span"> 
     <xsl:attribute name="class">des</xsl:attribute> 
     <xsl:value-of select="description"/> ... Read More 
    </xsl:element> 
   </xsl:element> 
  </xsl:element> 
 </xsl:element> 
</xsl:for-each> 

[ahmedtheking]

That is a good idea, but it can get a bit confusing!

[choster]

I find there's almost never a need to use <xsl:element> unless you're going to use a variable or param to define the name of the element. When hand-coding, it's much easier to keep track of nesting with distinctive element names as opposed to counting </xsl:element>s.

As far as inserting values into attributes, why not just use bracket notation?

<xsl:for-each select="rss/channel/item">
<li><span class="inner"><a title="{title} - {description}" href="{link}"><span class="title"><span class="date"> <xsl:value-of select="pubdate"/></span> <xsl:value-of select="title"/></span> <span class="des"><xsl:value-of select="description"/> ... Read More</span></a></span></li>
</xsl:for-each>

[ahmedtheking]

I didn't know you could use those brackets! Any other tips?