XSLT <xsl:variable> Element

From http://www.w3schools.com (Copyright Refsnes Data)

# XSLT <xsl:variable> Element

Complete XSLT Element Reference

## Definition and Usage

The <xsl:variable> element is used to declare a local or global variable.

Note: The variable is global if it's declared as a top-level element, and local if it's declared within a template.

Note: Once you have set a variable's value, you cannot change or modify that value!

Tip: You can add a value to a variable by the content of the <xsl:variable> element OR by the select attribute!

## Syntax

    <xsl:variable
    name="name"
    select="expression">

      <!-- Content:template -->

    </xsl:variable>

## Attributes

Attribute | Value | Description
--- | --- | ---
name | name | Required. Specifies the name of the variable
select | expression | Optional. Defines the value of the variable

### Example 1

If the select attribute is present, the <xsl:variable> element cannot contain any content. If the select attribute contains a literal string, the string must be within quotes. The following two examples assign the value "red" to the variable "color":

    <xsl:variable name="color" select="'red'" />

    <xsl:variable name="color" select='"red"' />

### Example 2

If the <xsl:variable> element only contains a name attribute, and there is no content, then the value of the variable is an empty string:

    <xsl:variable name="j" />

### Example 3

The following example adds a value to the variable "header" by the content of the <xsl:variable> element:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
    <xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
    xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">

    <xsl:variable name="header">
      <tr>
      <th>Element</th>
      <th>Description</th>
      </tr>
    </xsl:variable>

    <xsl:template match="/">
      <html>
      <body>
      <table>
        <xsl:copy-of select="$header" />
        <xsl:for-each select="reference/record">
        <tr>
        <xsl:if category="XML">
          <td><xsl:value-of select="element"/></td>
          <td><xsl:value-of select="description"/></td>
        </xsl:if>
        </tr>
        </xsl:for-each>
      </table>
      <br />
      <table>
        <xsl:copy-of select="$header" />
        <xsl:for-each select="table/record">
        <tr>
        <xsl:if category="XSL">
          <td><xsl:value-of select="element"/></td>
          <td><xsl:value-of select="description"/></td>
        </xsl:if>
        </tr>
        </xsl:for-each>
      </table>
      </body>
      </html>
    </xsl:template>

    </xsl:stylesheet>

Complete XSLT Element Reference

From http://www.w3schools.com (Copyright Refsnes Data)