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XSLT generate-id() Function

XSLT generate-id() Function

The generate-id function returns a string value that uniquely identifies a specified node.

If the node-set specified is empty, an empty string is returned. If you omit the node-set parameter, it defaults to the current node.

Syntax

string generate-id(node-set?)

Input Parameters

ParameterRequired/OptionalDescription
node-setOptionalSpecifies on which node-set to generate a unique id

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>
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>
<h3>Authors:</h3>
<ul>
<xsl:for-each select="bookstore/book">
<li>
<a href="#{generate-id(author)}">
<xsl:value-of select="author" /></a>
</li>
</xsl:for-each>
</ul>
<hr />
<xsl:for-each select="bookstore/book">
Author: <a id="{generate-id(author)}">
<xsl:value-of select="author" /></a>
<br />
Title: <xsl:value-of select="title" />
<br />
Price: <xsl:value-of select="price" />
<hr />
</xsl:for-each>
</body>
</html>
</xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>