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XSLT <xsl:apply-imports> Element

Definition and Usage

The <xsl:apply-imports> element applies a template rule from an imported style sheet.

Template rules in imported style sheets have lower precedence than template rules in main style sheets. The <xsl:apply-imports> is used when we want to use a template rule from the imported style sheet rather than an equivalent rule in the main style sheet.

Syntax

<xsl:apply-imports/>

Attributes

None

Example

Suppose we have a style sheet called "standard.xsl" that contains a template rule for message elements:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">

<xsl:template match="message">
  <h2><xsl:apply-templates/></h2>
</xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

Another style sheet could import "standard.xsl", and modify the message elements, like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">

<xsl:import href="standard.xsl"/>

<xsl:template match="message">
  <div style="border:solid blue">
  <xsl:apply-imports/>
  </div>
</xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

The result would be to transform a message into an element of the form:

<div style="border:solid blue"><h2>...</h2></div>

Complete XSLT Element Reference