How to replace element with XSLT by keeping the namespace prefix - xslt

Question

I am looking for a way to replace the value of a field from a xml file by using xslt. Everything works great besides the namespace prefix. In the source file below I want to change the Password element value.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ns0:MYXML xmlns:ns0="http://www.me.com/myxml" xmlns="http://www.me.com/myxml" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<ns0:Header>
<ns0:Infromation>
<ns0:From>
<ns0:Credential>
<ns0:User>jeff</ns0:User>
<Password xmlns="">OLD VALUE</Password>
</ns0:Credential>
</ns0:From>
</ns0:Infromation>
<ns0:Misc>
<ns0:ID>1002</ns0:ID>
<ns0:Timestamp>2012-01-16T09:23:33</ns0:Timestamp>
<ns0:Type>unknown</ns0:Type>
</ns0:Misc>
<ns0:State>
<ns0:ConversationId>d66d9304-9025-a580-e111-5640bf36560d</ns0:ConversationId>
</ns0:State>
</ns0:Header>
</ns0:MYXML>
Here is my result:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ns0:MYXML xmlns:ns0="http://www.me.com/myxml" xmlns="http://www.me.com/myxml" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<ns0:Header>
<ns0:Infromation>
<ns0:From>
<ns0:Credential>
<ns0:User>jeff</ns0:User>
<Password xmlns="">New Value</Password>
</ns0:Credential>
</ns0:From>
</ns0:Infromation>
<ns0:Misc>
<ns0:ID>1002</ns0:ID>
<ns0:Timestamp>2012-01-16T09:23:33</ns0:Timestamp>
<ns0:Type>unknown</ns0:Type>
</ns0:Misc>
<ns0:State>
<ns0:ConversationId>d66d9304-9025-a580-e111-5640bf36560d</ns0:ConversationId>
</ns0:State>
</ns0:Header>
</ns0:MYXML>
And that's the xslt code that I use for the transformation:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ns0:MYXML xmlns:ns0="http://www.me.com/myxml" xmlns="http://www.me.com/myxml" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<ns0:Header>
<ns0:Infromation>
<ns0:From>
<ns0:Credential>
<ns0:User>jeff</ns0:User>
<Password xmlns="">New Value</Password>
</ns0:Credential>
</ns0:From>
</ns0:Infromation>
<ns0:Misc>
<ns0:ID>1002</ns0:ID>
<ns0:Timestamp>2012-01-16T09:23:33</ns0:Timestamp>
<ns0:Type>unknown</ns0:Type>
</ns0:Misc>
<ns0:State>
<ns0:ConversationId>d66d9304-9025-a580-e111-5640bf36560d</ns0:ConversationId>
</ns0:State>
</ns0:Header>
</ns0:MYXML>
i tried to use "{name()}" for the element name but this throws an exception that the namespace does not exist.
Any help is greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

It's not clear to me whether you want the Password element to belong to the empty namespace as it appears in the original Xml or you want it to be in the http://www.me.com/myxml namespace. Here is an Xslt stylesheet that replaces the Password element from the empty namespace with a Password element from the http://www.me.com/myxml namespace (I used ns0 prefix so that it looks like other elements in the Xml document):
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt" exclude-result-prefixes="msxsl">
<xsl:output method="xml" indent="yes"/>
<xsl:template match="#* | node()">
<xsl:copy>
<xsl:apply-templates select="#* | node()"/>
</xsl:copy>
</xsl:template>
<xsl:template match="Password">
<ns0:Password xmlns:ns0="http://www.me.com/myxml">
<xsl:copy-of select="#*"/>
<xsl:text>New Value</xsl:text>
</ns0:Password>
</xsl:template>
<!-- This creates the element in the empty namespace
<xsl:template match="Password">
<xsl:copy>
<xsl:copy-of select="#*"/>
<xsl:text>New Value</xsl:text>
</xsl:copy>
</xsl:template>
-->
</xsl:stylesheet>
I also included a template that copies the existing Password element and replaces its value just in case you need it. If you don't need it you can remove the block entirely.
Here is the transformation result:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ns0:MYXML xmlns:ns0="http://www.me.com/myxml" xmlns="http://www.me.com/myxml"
xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<ns0:Header>
<ns0:Infromation>
<ns0:From>
<ns0:Credential>
<ns0:User>jeff</ns0:User>
<ns0:Password>New Value</ns0:Password>
</ns0:Credential>
</ns0:From>
</ns0:Infromation>
<ns0:Misc>
<ns0:ID>1002</ns0:ID>
<ns0:Timestamp>2012-01-16T09:23:33</ns0:Timestamp>
<ns0:Type>unknown</ns0:Type>
</ns0:Misc>
<ns0:State>
<ns0:ConversationId>d66d9304-9025-a580-e111-5640bf36560d</ns0:ConversationId>
</ns0:State>
</ns0:Header>
</ns0:MYXML>
Pawel