Alter xml file by calling a C# function in xslt

Question

I have a xml file and an xslt file in my website project. When I run the site, I need to call a c# function from xslt and alter the values in xml file.... Given below is my xml file.... I need to add a text (say "Mr.") in front of every firstname through a c# code.... After adding, it should reflect in the xml file.... Also, as a next step, I need to add another node in the xml file (say age) through another c# function.... Please note that the c# function should be called from my xslt file.... Can anyone help me with a simple code for this????

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<root>
  <employee>
    <firstname>Kaushal</firstname>
    <lastname>Parik</lastname>
  </employee>
  <employee>
    <firstname>Abhishek</firstname>
    <lastname>Swarnkar</lastname>
  </employee>
</root>

Answer 1

Yes, you can call C# function from .xsl file. Please refer following code.

This is your input XML File:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="cdcatalog.xsl"?>
<root>
<employee>
  <firstname>Kaushal</firstname>
  <lastname>Parik</lastname>
</employee>
<employee>
  <firstname>Abhishek</firstname>
  <lastname>Swarnkar</lastname>
</employee>
</root>  

Formatting function in a C# class is like this:

    public class MyXslExtension
{
    public string FormatName(string name)
    {
        return "Mr. " + name;
    }
}  

Apply following xsl:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" 
            xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt" exclude-result-prefixes="msxsl"
            xmlns:myUtils="pda:MyUtils">
<xsl:output method="xml" indent="yes"/>
<xsl:variable name="vQ">Mr. </xsl:variable>
<xsl:template match="@*|node()">
<xsl:copy>
  <xsl:apply-templates select="@*|node()"/>
</xsl:copy>
</xsl:template>
<xsl:template match="employee/firstname">
<xsl:element name="firstname">
  <xsl:value-of select="myUtils:FormatName(.)" />
</xsl:element>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

And C# Functin to call Formatting function is like this:

private void button3_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        XsltArgumentList arguments = new XsltArgumentList();
        arguments.AddExtensionObject("pda:MyUtils", new MyXslExtension());

        using (StreamWriter writer = new StreamWriter("books1.xml"))
        {
            XslCompiledTransform transform = new XslCompiledTransform();
            transform.Load("transform.xslt");
            transform.Transform("books.xml", arguments, writer);
        }
    }  

And the out put is:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="cdcatalog.xsl"?>
<root>
<employee>
<firstname>Mr. Kaushal</firstname>
<lastname>Parik</lastname>
</employee>
<employee>
<firstname>Mr. Abhishek</firstname>
<lastname>Swarnkar</lastname>  
</employee>
</root>  

I have referred this link to answer your question.

Hope this will help you.
Please mark +1 if it is useful to you....

Answer 2

Add the XSL style sheet reference to your XML document, like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="cdcatalog.xsl"?>
<root>
  <employee>
    <firstname>Kaushal</firstname>
    <lastname>Parik</lastname>
  </employee>
  <employee>
    <firstname>Abhishek</firstname>
    <lastname>Swarnkar</lastname>
  </employee>
</root>    

or use XslTransform class to transforms XML data using an XSLT from .NET:

//Create the XslTransform object.
XslTransform xslt = new XslTransform();

//Load the stylesheet.
xslt.Load("output.xsl");

//Transform the file.
xslt.Transform("books.xml", "books.html");

Answer 3

Apply following .xslt:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt" exclude-result-prefixes="msxsl">
<xsl:output method="xml" indent="yes"/>

<xsl:variable name="vQ">Mr. </xsl:variable>

<xsl:template match="@*|node()">
  <xsl:copy>
    <xsl:apply-templates select="@*|node()"/>
  </xsl:copy>
</xsl:template>

<xsl:template match="employee/firstname">
  <xsl:element name="firstname">
    <xsl:value-of  select="concat($vQ, .)"/>
  </xsl:element>
</xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

Input is:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="cdcatalog.xsl"?>
<root>
<employee>
  <firstname>Kaushal</firstname>
  <lastname>Parik</lastname>
</employee>
<employee>
  <firstname>Abhishek</firstname>
  <lastname>Swarnkar</lastname>
</employee>
</root>

Out put is:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="cdcatalog.xsl"?>
<root>
  <employee>
  <firstname>Mr. Kaushal</firstname>
  <lastname>Parik</lastname>
</employee>
<employee>
  <firstname>Mr. Abhishek</firstname>
  <lastname>Swarnkar</lastname>
</employee>
</root>  

and C# function is like this:

private void button3_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        XslTransform xslt = new XslTransform();  
        xslt.Load("transform.xslt");  
        xslt.Transform("books.xml", "books1.xml"); 
    }  

Hope this will help you...