The <xsl:choose> Element
Contents
The <xsl:choose> element is used in conjunction with <xsl:when> and <xsl:otherwise> to express multiple conditional tests.
Syntax
<xsl:choose>
<xsl:when test="expression">
... some output ...
</xsl:when>
<xsl:otherwise>
... some output ....
</xsl:otherwise>
</xsl:choose>
Where to put the Choose Condition
To insert a multiple conditional test against the XML file, add the <xsl:choose>, <xsl:when>, and <xsl:otherwise> elements to the XSL file:
Example
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:template match="/">
<html>
<body>
<h2>My CD Collection</h2>
<table border="1">
<tr bgcolor="#9acd32">
<th>Title</th>
<th>Artist</th>
</tr>
<xsl:for-each select="catalog/cd">
<tr>
<td><xsl:value-of select="title"/></td>
<xsl:choose>
<xsl:when test="price > 10">
<td bgcolor="#ff00ff">
<xsl:value-of select="artist"/></td>
</xsl:when>
<xsl:otherwise>
<td><xsl:value-of select="artist"/></td>
</xsl:otherwise>
</xsl:choose>
</tr>
</xsl:for-each>
</table>
</body>
</html>
</xsl:template>
The code above will add a pink background-color to the "Artist" column WHEN the price of the CD is higher than 10.
Another Example
Here is another example that contains two <xsl:when> elements:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:template match="/">
<html>
<body>
<h2>My CD Collection</h2>
<table border="1">
<tr bgcolor="#9acd32">
<th>Title</th>
<th>Artist</th>
</tr>
<xsl:for-each select="catalog/cd">
<tr>
<td><xsl:value-of select="title"/></td>
<xsl:choose>
<xsl:when test="price > 10">
<td bgcolor="#ff00ff">
<xsl:value-of select="artist"/></td>
</xsl:when>
<xsl:when test="price > 9">
<td bgcolor="#cccccc">
<xsl:value-of select="artist"/></td>
</xsl:when>
<xsl:otherwise>
<td><xsl:value-of select="artist"/></td>
</xsl:otherwise>
</xsl:choose>
</tr>
</xsl:for-each>
</table>
</body>
</html>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>
The code above will add a pink background color to the "Artist" column WHEN the price of the CD is higher than 10, and a grey background-color WHEN the price of the CD is higher than 9 and lower or equal to 10.
Try it yourself
Click here to try it yourself (copy and paste the XSL in the XSL pane)
Note
If there are no results shown in the bottom pane when you click the previous link, add the URL to the compatibility list as explained in Prerequisites.