How to show a character n times in XSLT? - xslt

Question

I have a template with a parameter. How can I insert a tab character n times?
n is the value of the parameter.

Answer 1

In XSLT 2.0:
<xsl:for-each select="1 to $count"> </xsl:for-each>
(Sadly though, I suspect that if you were using XSLT 2.0 you wouldn't need to ask the question).
Another technique often used with XSLT 1.0 is the hack:
<xsl:for-each select="//*[position() <= $count]"> </xsl:for-each>
which works provided the number of elements in your source document is greater than the number of tab characters you want to output.

Answer 2

Just call it recursively; output a tab, then call the same template again with n-1 passed in, if n > 1.
<xsl:template name="repeat">
<xsl:param name="output" />
<xsl:param name="count" />
<xsl:if test="$count > 0">
<xsl:value-of select="$output" />
<xsl:call-template name="repeat">
<xsl:with-param name="output" select="$output" />
<xsl:with-param name="count" select="$count - 1" />
</xsl:call-template>
</xsl:if>
</xsl:template>
As has been pointed out, this example will actually output a minimum of one. In my experience where the output is whitespace, it's usually needed. You can adapt the principle of a recursive template like this any way you see fit.

Answer 3

This seems the simplest and most flexible to me.
For XSLT 1.0 (or perhaps 1.1).
<xsl:variable name="count">10</xsl:variable>
<xsl:variable name="repeat"><xsl:text> </xsl:text></xsl:variable>
<xsl:sequence select="string-join((for $i in 1 to $count return $repeat),'')"/>
Of course the count variable is where you assign your n parameter.
I used the variable repeat to hold the tab character, but you could just replace the $repeat with the tab character in single quotes in the sequence element. Note: This variable can be of a length greater than 1, which creates a whole bunch of possibilities.
It does not use recursion, so it won't run into a recursion limit.
I don't know the maximum value you can use for count, but I tested it up to 10,000.

Answer 4

Globally define a long enough array of tabs:
<xsl:variable name="TABS" select="' '" />
Then use like this:
<xsl:value-of select="fn:substring($TABS, 1, fn:number($COUNT))" />

Answer 5

(XSLT 1.0)
<xsl:template name="tabs">
<xsl:param name="n"/>
<xsl:if test="$n > 0"> <!-- When n = 0, output nothing. -->
<xsl:call-template name="tabs"> <!-- Recursive call: call same template... -->
<xsl:with-param name="n" select="$n - 1"/> <!-- ... for writing n - 1 tabs. -->
</xsl:call-template>
<xsl:text> </xsl:text> <!-- Add one tab character. -->
</xsl:if>
</xsl:template>
Example usage:
<xsl:call-template name="tabs">
<xsl:with-param name="n" select="3"/>
</xsl:call-template>

Answer 6

I've discovered an LGPL-licensed library for doing this called functx, as I was sure someone had to have already done this... This is a "standard library" type XSLT library, which contains a function called repeat-string. From the docs:
The functx:repeat-string function returns a string consisting of a given number of copies of $stringToRepeat concatenated together.
Where I use it like this in my code:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="2.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:functx="http://www.functx.com">
<xsl:import href="../buildlib/functx-1.0.xsl"/>
<xsl:output omit-xml-declaration="yes" />
<xsl:variable name="INDENT" select="' '" />
....
<xsl:template match="node()|#*">
<xsl:copy>
<xsl:apply-templates select="node()|#*" />
</xsl:copy>
</xsl:template>
<xsl:template match="data-pusher-properties">
<xsl:for-each select="property">
<xsl:choose>
...
<xsl:when test="boolean(#value = '${pusher.notifications.server}')">
<xsl:value-of select="functx:repeat-string($INDENT, #indent)" />
<xsl:text>"</xsl:text>
<xsl:value-of select="#name" />
<xsl:text>": </xsl:text>
<xsl:text>"</xsl:text>
<xsl:value-of select="$pusher.notifications.email.server" />
<xsl:text>"\
</xsl:text>
</xsl:when>
...
</xsl:choose>
</xsl:for-each>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>
So for printing a tab character n times, call it like this:
<xsl:value-of select="functx:repeat-string(' ', n)" />
I know this question is old, but I hope this can still help someone.
Documentation for the repeat-string function