How do I call a template within a template? - xslt

Question

I've got the following value in an XML file:
<document>
<effectiveTime value="20131008"/>
<item>
<effectiveTime>
<low value=20131008"/>
</effectiveTime>
</item>
</document>
I have the following as part of my xsl file:
<xsl:variable name="today">
<xsl:call-template name="formatDate">
<xsl:with-param name="date" select ="/Document/effectiveTime/#value" />
</xsl:call-template>
</xsl:variable>
<!-- template for date formatting from xml document -->
<xsl:template name="formatDate">
<xsl:param name="date" />
<xsl:variable name="year" select="substring($date, 1, 4)" />
<xsl:variable name="month" select="number(substring($date, 5, 2))" />
<xsl:variable name="day" select="substring($date, 7, 2)" />
<xsl:value-of select="concat($month, '/', $day, '/', $year)" />
</xsl:template>
<!-- template for comparing against the date of visit -->
<xsl:template name="compareToday">
<xsl:param name="date"/>
<xsl:if test="$date = $today">
<xsl:text>true</xsl:text>
</xsl:if>
</xsl:template>
I need to compare the /document/item/effectivetime/low/#value to the value I have stored in the variable $today so that I can make a line in the output (html) be bold format. This is what I have currently to do the compare:
<xsl:variable name="IsToday">
<xsl:call-template name="compareToday">
<xsl:with-param name="date" select="/document/item/effectiveTime/low/#value"/>
</xsl:call-template>
</xsl:variable>
<span>
<xsl:if test="$IsToday = 'true'">
<xsl:attribute name="style">
<xsl:text>font-weight:bold;</xsl:text>
</xsl:attribute>
</xsl:if>
<xsl:value-of select="/document/item/effectiveTime/low/#value" />
</span>
This doesn't work because it's trying to compare 20131008 against 10/08/2013. I can't seem to get the format to be done first before doing the compare. Most (but not all) of the dates in my document are in the YYYYMMDD format.
Thanks

Answer 1

I realized what I needed to do. I have to make a variable with the current date first that is formatted correctly. Then pass that variable name to the compare.
<xsl:variable name="itemDate">
<xsl:call-template name="formatDate">
<xsl:with-param name="date" select="/document/item/effectiveTime/low/#value"/>
</xsl:call-template>
</xsl:variable>
<xsl:variable name="IsToday">
<xsl:call-template name="compareToday">
<xsl:with-param name="date" select="$itemDate"/>
</xsl:call-template>
</xsl:variable>
This allows me to compare apples to apples in terms of formatting.

Answer 2

Try following adjustment
<xsl:variable name="IsToday">
<!-- Store formated date in temporary variable -->
<xsl:variable name="tmp">
<xsl:call-template name="formatDate">
<xsl:with-param name="date" select="/document/item/effectiveTime/low/#value"/>
</xsl:call-template>
</xsl:variable>
<xsl:call-template name="compareToday">
<!-- Pass temporary variable into compare template -->
<xsl:with-param name="date" select="$tmp"/>
</xsl:call-template>
</xsl:variable>
Or you could nest calling of another named template into xsl:with-param element like
<xsl:variable name="IsToday">
<xsl:call-template name="compareToday">
<xsl:with-param name="date">
<!-- Another named template call nested in xsl:with-param -->
<xsl:call-template name="formatDate">
<xsl:with-param name="date" select="/document/item/effectiveTime/low/#value"/>
</xsl:call-template>
</xsl:with-param>
</xsl:call-template>
</xsl:variable>