XML/XSLT stylesheet/normalize space

normalize-space

File: Data.xml
<test>
  <sample eid="A" />
  <sample eid="B"></sample>
  <sample eid="C"></sample>
  <sample eid="D"></sample>
  <sample eid="E">some text</sample>
  <sample eid="F">
    <color>blue</color>
  </sample>
  <sample eid="G">
    <color>red</color>
    more text
  </sample>
</test>
File: Transform.xslt
<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
  version="1.0">
  <xsl:output method="xml" omit-xml-declaration="yes" indent="no" />
  <xsl:template match="sample">
    <xsl:choose>
      <xsl:when test="normalize-space(.)">
        Sample element
        <xsl:value-of select="@eid" />
        isn"t empty.
      </xsl:when>
      <xsl:otherwise>
        Sample element
        <xsl:value-of select="@eid" />
        is empty.
      </xsl:otherwise>
    </xsl:choose>
  </xsl:template>
  
</xsl:stylesheet>
Output:

  
        Sample element
        A
        is empty.
      
  
        Sample element
        B
        is empty.
      
  
        Sample element
        C
        is empty.
      
  
        Sample element
        D
        is empty.
      
  
        Sample element
        E
        isn"t empty.
      
  
        Sample element
        F
        isn"t empty.
      
  
        Sample element
        G
        isn"t empty.

normalize-space demo

File: Data.xml
<poem>
  <verse>line 1</verse>
  <verse>
    line 2
  </verse>
</poem>
File: Transform.xslt
<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
  version="1.0">
  <xsl:output method="xml" omit-xml-declaration="yes" indent="no" />
  
  <xsl:template match="verse">
    <xsl:value-of select="concat("length: ",string-length(.))" />
    <xsl:if test="contains(.,"light")">
      <xsl:text>light: yes!</xsl:text>
    </xsl:if>
    <xsl:if test="starts-with(.,"Seest")">
      <xsl:text>Yes, starts with "Seest"</xsl:text>
    </xsl:if>
    <xsl:value-of select="normalize-space(.)" />
    <xsl:value-of select="translate(.,"abcde","ABCD")" />
  </xsl:template>
  
</xsl:stylesheet>
Output:

  length: 6line 1lin 1
  length: 13line 2
    lin 2

normalize-space() function and if statement

File: Data.xml

<poem>
  <a>line 1</a>
  <b>line 1</b>
  <c>line 1</c>
  <d>
    line 1
  </d>
</poem>
File: Transform.xslt
<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
  version="1.0">
  <xsl:output method="xml" omit-xml-declaration="yes" indent="no" />
  <xsl:template match="a">
    <xsl:if test="normalize-space(.) = normalize-space(../d)">
      a = normalize-space(../d)
    </xsl:if>
    
  </xsl:template>
  <xsl:template match="b|c|d" />
</xsl:stylesheet>
Output:

  
      a = normalize-space(../d)

Use normalize-space() function to normalize space for elements and attributes

File: Data.xml
<employees>
  <employee hireDate="09/01/1998">
    <last>A</last>
    <first>B</first>
    <salary>95000</salary>
  </employee>
  <employee hireDate="     04/23/1999">
    <last>C</last>
    <first>D</first>
    <salary>100000</salary>
  </employee>
</employees>
File: Transform.xslt
<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
  version="1.0">
  <xsl:output method="xml" omit-xml-declaration="yes" />
  <xsl:template match="employee">
    <xsl:value-of select="normalize-space(@hireDate)" />
    <xsl:text>,</xsl:text>
    <xsl:value-of select="normalize-space(first)" />
    <xsl:text>,</xsl:text>
    <xsl:value-of select="normalize-space(last)" />
  </xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>
Output:

  09/01/1998,A,B
  04/23/1999,C,D