Xslt Apply in XML
? Using <xsl:apply-templates> in XSLT (XML)
The <xsl:apply-templates> instruction is fundamental in XSLT. It tells the processor to find matching templates for child nodes and apply those templates recursively — enabling powerful and flexible XML transformations.
What Does <xsl:apply-templates> Do?
It processes child nodes of the current node by finding matching
<xsl:template>rules.It allows the XSLT to traverse the XML tree automatically.
You can apply it to all child nodes or select specific nodes using a
selectattribute.
Basic Example
XML Input
<library> <book> <title>1984</title> <author>George Orwell</author> </book> <book> <title>Brave New World</title> <author>Aldous Huxley</author> </book></library>XSLT Stylesheet
<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version="1.0"> <!-- Match the root element --> <xsl:template match="/library"> <html> <body> <h2>Library Books</h2> <ul> <!-- Apply templates to all 'book' children --> <xsl:apply-templates select="book"/> </ul> </body> </html> </xsl:template> <!-- Template for each book --> <xsl:template match="book"> <li> <xsl:value-of select="title"/> by <xsl:value-of select="author"/> </li> </xsl:template></xsl:stylesheet>Explanation
<xsl:apply-templates select="book"/>looks for all<book>elements under<library>.For each
<book>, the matching<xsl:template match="book">is applied.This builds a list of book titles with authors.
Resulting Output (HTML)
<html> <body> <h2>Library Books</h2> <ul> <li>1984 by George Orwell</li> <li>Brave New World by Aldous Huxley</li> </ul> </body></html>Summary
<xsl:apply-templates>processes child nodes by applying matching templates.It enables recursive and modular processing of XML.
Combined with
<xsl:template>, it forms the backbone of most XSLT transformations.
Want me to help you write a full XML + XSLT example using <xsl:apply-templates>?
