How to remove empty lines in XSLT to CSV output - xslt

Question

I have XML data which I have transformed using XSLT to output csv formatted text. My XSLT contains a <xsl:if test> clause to filter the result from the larger dataset of the input XML. This works but every line that is filtered out of the input is displayed as an empty line in the output.
I have tried <xsl:strip-space elements="*" /> and <xsl:template match="text()" /> but neither remove the empty lines.
A sample of my XML:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<session_list xmlns="http://www.networkstreaming.com/namespaces/API" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<session lsid="fef672741e025ffda1acb3041f09252d">
<session_type>support</session_type>
<lseq>2899</lseq>
<start_time timestamp="1290027608">2010-11-17T16:00:08-05:00</start_time>
<end_time timestamp="1290027616">2010-11-17T16:00:16-05:00</end_time>
<duration>00:00:08</duration>
<public_site id="1">Default</public_site>
<external_key></external_key>
<session_chat_view_url>https://mysite.com/session_download.ns?lsid=l%3Dfef672741e025ffda1acb3041f09252d%3Bh%3D9bd6081f0b7fee08dcc32a58ef4cb54c7a0e233d%3Bt%3Dsd%3Bm%3Dchat&dl_action=chat&view=1&sessionType=sd</session_chat_view_url>
<session_chat_download_url>https://mysite.com/session_download.ns?lsid=l%3Dfef672741e025ffda1acb3041f09252d%3Bh%3D9bd6081f0b7fee08dcc32a58ef4cb54c7a0e233d%3Bt%3Dsd%3Bm%3Dchat&dl_action=chat&sessionType=sd</session_chat_download_url>
<file_transfer_count>0</file_transfer_count>
<primary_customer gsnumber="3">Smith, John</primary_customer>
<customer_list>
<customer gsnumber="3">
<username>Smith, John</username>
<public_ip>xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx</public_ip>
<private_ip>xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx</private_ip>
<hostname>DESKTOP</hostname>
<os>Windows 7 Enterprise x64 Edition (Build 7600)</os>
<primary_cust>1</primary_cust>
<info>
<name></name>
<company></company>
<company_code></company_code>
<issue></issue>
<details></details>
</info>
</customer>
</customer_list>
...etc...
</session>
</session_list>
My XSLT:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:bg="http://www.networkstreaming.com/namespaces/API" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<xsl:output method="text"/>
<xsl:template match="/*">
<xsl:text>Session ID,</xsl:text>
<xsl:text>Start Time,</xsl:text>
<xsl:text>Duration,</xsl:text>
<xsl:text>Public Site,</xsl:text>
<xsl:text>Remedy Ticket Number,</xsl:text>
<xsl:text>Customer's Name,</xsl:text>
<xsl:text>Customer's Operating System,</xsl:text>
<xsl:text>Representative's Name</xsl:text>
<xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
<xsl:apply-templates/>
</xsl:template>
<xsl:template match="bg:session_list">
<xsl:apply-templates select="bg:session"/>
</xsl:template>
<xsl:template match="bg:session">
<xsl:if test="contains(bg:customer_list/bg:customer/bg:os,'Click-To-Chat')">
<xsl:value-of select="bg:lseq"/>,<xsl:text/>
<xsl:value-of select="bg:start_time"/>,<xsl:text/>
<xsl:value-of select="bg:duration"/>,<xsl:text/>
<xsl:value-of select="bg:public_site"/>,<xsl:text/>
<xsl:value-of select="bg:external_key"/>,<xsl:text/>
<xsl:value-of select="bg:primary_customer"/>,<xsl:text/>
<xsl:value-of select="bg:customer_list/bg:customer/bg:os"/>,<xsl:text/>
<xsl:value-of select="bg:primary_rep"/>
</xsl:if>
<xsl:text>
</xsl:text>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>
A sample of the output:
Session ID,Start Time,Duration,Public Site,Remedy Ticket Number,Customer's Name,Customer's Operating System,Representative's Name
6488,2011-03-14T09:17:13-04:00,00:00:06,Default,,User One,Windows® (x86) Click-To-Chat,Rep1
6489,2011-03-14T09:44:50-04:00,00:39:58,Default,,Nate,Windows® (x86) Click-To-Chat,Rep1
6494,2011-03-14T10:25:23-04:00,00:03:29,Default,,User TEST,Windows® (x86) Click-To-Chat,Rep1
6498,2011-03-14T11:01:36-04:00,,Default,,User Two,Windows® (x86) Click-To-Chat,Diane
Each of the lines between the printed lines is data that was filtered out because it didn't pass the <xsl:if test="contains(bg:customer_list/bg:customer/bg:os,'Click-To-Chat')"> but the empty lines are still printed. This output doesn't look very good when opened in excel.
Does anyone have any ideas how to remove them?
Thanks!

Answer 1

Have you tried putting the <xsl:text>
</xsl:text> line inside the xsl:if? This is the bit that puts a newline, so at the moment you are writing one even if you don't write the line.