Checking the value of nil fields - xslt

Question

I have a requirement to remove empty and nil tags from XML.
This is my code below and need help how to check for the nil fields.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version="1.0">
<xsl:output method="xml" encoding="UTF-8" indent="yes" />
<xsl:template match="/">
<xsl:call-template name="RemoveEmptyTagsMain">
<xsl:with-param name="root" select="."></xsl:with-param>
</xsl:call-template>
</xsl:template>
<xsl:template name="RemoveEmptyTags">
<xsl:variable name="Value">
<xsl:value-of select="." />
</xsl:variable>
<xsl:variable name="NodeCount" select="count(*)" />
<xsl:choose>
<xsl:when test="$NodeCount > 0">
<xsl:copy>
<xsl:copy-of select="#*" />
<xsl:for-each select="child::*">
<xsl:call-template name="RemoveEmptyTags" />
</xsl:for-each>
</xsl:copy>
</xsl:when>
<xsl:otherwise>
<xsl:if test="not(normalize-space($Value) = '') and not(Value=#xsl:nil)">
<xsl:copy>
<xsl:copy-of select="#*" />
<xsl:value-of select="." />
</xsl:copy>
</xsl:if>
</xsl:otherwise>
</xsl:choose>
</xsl:template>
<xsl:template name="RemoveEmptyTagsMain">
<xsl:param name="root"/>
<xsl:for-each select="$root">
<xsl:call-template name="RemoveEmptyTags" />
</xsl:for-each>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>
This is where I am checking for empty & nillable tags.
<xsl:if test="not(normalize-space($Value) = '') and not(Value=#xsl:nil)">
I have check for nillable tags like this <name xsi:nil="true">

Answer 1

Throw all of your code away and use this:
<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version="1.0">
<xsl:output method="xml" encoding="UTF-8" indent="yes" />
<xsl:template match="node() | #*">
<xsl:copy>
<xsl:apply-templates select="node() | #*" />
</xsl:copy>
</xsl:template>
<xsl:template match="*[not(*) and normalize-space() = '']" />
</xsl:stylesheet>
The above stylesheet will copy anything that is not empty.
Elements that have no children (*[not(*)]) and elements that have empty text contents (*[normalize-space() = '']) are "thrown away" (i.e. not output) by the second template, everything else is copied as is by the first template.
To remove all elements that do not contain anything but more nested empty elements, you can use this as the second template:
<xsl:template match="*[normalize-space() = '']" />