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
| Attribute | Value | Required/Optional | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
terminate |
yes|no | Optional | "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:
<?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:
<?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>