Re: [xslt] key() in match pattern of xsl:key

["Joel E. Denny" <jdenny ces clemson edu>]

On Sat, 10 Dec 2005, Joel E. Denny wrote:

> On Thu, 8 Dec 2005, Joel E. Denny wrote:
> 
> > > I recommend asking the people of the XSL list [1] about how the most
> > > XSTL processors have implemented this. Would be good to go the de facto
> > > way here if this is an 'implementation defined' issue.
> > > 
> > > [1] xsl-list lists mulberrytech com
> > 
> > Thanks for the suggestion. I will pursue this.
> 
> I have started a thread over there.  It has the same subject and is dated 
> Dec 9.

Daniel, I have received a response from Michael Kay.  He claimed that both 
forward and back references among keys are legal in XSLT 1.0 by virtue of 
not being specifically banned.  On the other hand, he noted that he hasn't 
seen it done very often.  I'm not sure how relevant this is to libxslt 
right now, but he also pointed out that XSLT 2.0 discusses such references 
explicitly.

I found it encouraging that libxslt's forward key references should be 
portable.  Although back references would offer some organizational 
flexibility, I'm not sure they would offer any additional functionality, 
so I'm happy without them.

I would like to see forward key references remain a permanent feature.  
If you believe this is not right for libxslt, let me know and I will not 
ask again.  Otherwise, how can I help?  If you want a regression test, do 
you prefer a simple combination of XML, XSL, and expected output?  Or do 
you prefer a cvs diff?

Thanks.

Joel