Hi,

> I found out recently how to take a collection of sibling elements and
> place them in an n-column table, using a construct such as the
> following:
> 
>  <xsl:for-each select="element[position() mod 3 = 1]">
>   <tr>
>    <xsl:apply-templates 
> select=".|following-sibling::element[position() &lt; 3]"/>
>   </tr>
>  </xsl:for-each>
> 
>  ...and then a template which includes the <td> tags only for each
>  element.
> 
> This works just fine and can, of course, be adapted to any width.
> 
> What I am having a problem with is to first sort the siblings, then
> place them in the table.  Putting a sort in the for-each is no good as
> it will only sort the "position() mod 3" elements.  Likewise putting a
> sort in the apply-templates only sorts the row.
> 
> I tried creating a variable with the sorted elements by use of a
> for-each declaration with sort inside the variable definition, but
> this gives a result tree fragment and not a node set (as I just found
> out) and therefore I cannot further process it with standard XSL.

exslt:node-set() is quite common, and if you control the environment where the stylesheet is executed, you might want to consider using that.

> I've seen techniques using CDATA to 'sneak' the <TR> and </TR>
> elements in in a procedural fashion using xsl:if constructs, but this
> strikes me as very untidy and 'cheating'.

Yes, you definitely don't want to go there.

> I have looked through the archives of this list and various FAQs and
> none of the examples under 'grouping' or 'tables' seem to cover my
> case - namely that the table is purely a means of saving vertical
> space by placing elements across the page.  In most cases the
> examples' tables have meaning in their rows or columns. And in
> most cases where order is important, the data is already ordered!
> 
> My requirement is more akin to simple 'multi-up' printing.
> 
> Can anyone suggest an approach that uses standard XSL (I'm not sure
> whether my host has any extensions), and preferably not any kludges?

Two chained transformations. First sort the table, then group it.

Jarno - Assemblage 23: Awake (Imperative Reaction Mix - 138 BPM)

 XSL-List info and archive:  http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list