xml-dev - Re: Implementing user input in XSL

[Mike Sharp <msharp@lante.com>]

One way I've done it (on the client side, using the MSXML parser) is to
programmatically go into the XSL DOM, and modify the order-by attribute, then
re-transform the client side table.  This may be brute force, but it works, and
looks very slick--the client table doesn't flicker or refresh--it just re-orders
based on the new sort.  Obviously, this requires your visitors to use IE5 and
up.  However, you can set this up to degrade gracefully, and request another
page from the server if the client is not IE5.  Then, If you're doing it on the
server, and the server environment is MS, then you could use the latest version
of MSXML, which does support the variable and parameter tags.

Good luck,
Mike Sharp




EWDProductions@aol.com on 08/14/2000 02:34:14 PM

To:   xml-dev@lists.xml.org
cc:    (bcc: Mike Sharp/Lante)

Subject:  Implementing user input in XSL



For starters, hello.  This is my first post to the forum and I look forward
to getting to know alot of you well in my endeavor to learn this language.

I've already read through a multitude of sites on XML and its supporting
languages and even purchased a book.  What I'm curious about is if it would
be possible for a visitor of my site pull up a "Table" of data.

For example, I have a list of products, prices, reviews, and shipping prices.
 I want to be able to make a drop downlist that has each of the 4 options and
when one is selected, the list is reordered based on that value.  For
example, if they chose reviews, it resorts the list based on the best reviews
to worse.

What I've been able to come up with is a script that will load a different
xsl file to format the xml.  1 file for each option.  Now that's not
including reverse odering.  I'm on 6 files for one page and if I were to
implement searches and reverse orders, I'd be well over twenty.

Is there a way for <.xsl:sort> to process a variable instead of a text or
prescribed element?

Jonathan Hannan