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XSLT <xsl:message>

XSLT <xsl:message>​

The <xsl:message> element writes a message to the output. This element is primarily used to report errors.

This element can contain almost any other XSL element (<xsl:text>, <xsl:value-of>, etc.).

The terminate attribute gives you the choice to either quit or continue the processing when an error occurs.

Syntax​

<xsl:message terminate="yes|no">  
    <!-- Content:template -->
</xsl:message>

Attributes​

AttributeValueRequired/OptionalDescription
terminateyes|noOptional"yes" terminates the processing after the message is written to the output.
"no" continues the processing after the message is written to the output. Default is "no".

Example​

Consider the following example about a bookstore:

books.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="books.xsl"?>

<bookstore>
    <book category="children">
        <title lang="en">Harry Potter</title>
        <author>J K. Rowling</author>
        <year>2005</year>
        <price>29.99</price>
    </book>
    <book category="web">
        <title lang="en">XQuery Tips</title>
        <author>Tom Nolan</author>
        <year>2022</year>
        <price>39.99</price>
    </book>
    <book category="web">
        <title lang="en">Learn XML</title>
        <author>Tutorial Reference</author>
        <year>2022</year>
        <price>9.99</price>
    </book>
</bookstore>

Check if author is an empty string. If yes, we quit the XSL processor and display a message:

books.xsl
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">

<xsl:template match="/">
  <html>
  <body>
  <xsl:for-each select="bookstore/book">
    <p>Title: <xsl:value-of select="title"/><br/>
    Artist:
    <xsl:if test="author=''">
      <xsl:message terminate="yes">
        Error: Author is an empty string!
      </xsl:message>
    </xsl:if>
    <xsl:value-of select="author"/>
    </p>
  </xsl:for-each>
  </body>
  </html>
</xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

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