To count all the *data* elements within the document- you can do something
like

<xsl:template match="/">
  <xsl:variable name="total-el">
   <xsl:value-of select="count(descendant::data)"/>
  </xsl:variable>
</xsl:template>

To count all children - you can do count(descendant::*) - This will also
count <text> nodes.

To count all children directly under root/data - do count(*)

Now you have to compute the values of T and R

Ritu Kama
Sarvega Inc
745, McLintock Dr
Burr Ridge
IL - 60527
----- Original Message -----
From: "bix xslt" <bix_xslt@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <XSL-List@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2002 4:38 PM
Subject:  Counting Child Nodes


> All,
>
>     As I've been developing my xsl scripts, I've realized that it would be
> beneficial to be able to write my xslt in such a way that it would
> dynamically format my page for an optimal view based on a few factors.
> Essentially, I have a very large table which contains data from its child
> node and its grandchild node.  An example xml file would be:
>
> <data><text>Title for web page</text>
>     <data><text>Motivation</text>
>         <data><text>White Pages</text></data>
>         <data><text>References</text></data>
>     </data>
>     <data><text>Requirements</text>
>         <data><text>Software</text></data>
>         <data><text>Hardware</text></data>
>     </data>
>     <data><text>Design</text>
>         <data><text>Interfaces</text>
>             <data><text>Hardware/Software</text></data>
>             <data><text>Legacy Software</text></data>
>         </data>
>         <data><text>Functions</text></data>
>     </data>
>     <data><text>Implementation</text></data>
>     <data><text>Verification</text></data>
>     <data><text>Documentation</text></data>
>     <data><text>Archive</text></data>
> </data>
>
>     Note that there are 7 <data> elements that are children of the root
> node.  In my table, I could display each one in their own row or column,
but
> I would prefer to put three children on the first and second lines, and
then
> a single child on the third line.  An example of this would be:
>
>     One per column:
>         [Motivation]    [Requirements]    [Design]    [Implementation]
.
> .. . .
>
>     One per row:
>         [Motivation]
>         [Requirements]
>         [Design]
>         .
>         .
>
>     Optimal View:
>         [Motivation]            [Requirements]    [Design]
>         [Implementation]    [Verification]        [Documentation]
>                                     [Archives]
>
>     The algorithm I would use to determine how many rows and columns would
> be as follows:
>         T = Total number of children
>         R = Number of children displayed per row
>         C = Number of columns needed
>
>     <!-- find T -->
>     T = ??
>
>     <!-- initialize the values -->
>     set R = 1
>     set C = T
>
>     <!-- setup a loop to find the best numbers -->
>     while ( R < C and C > 1 )
>         R = R + 1
>         C = C - 1
>
>     <!-- numbers should now be close to optimal, so start displaying -->
>
>
>     So, my question is two-fold:  How do I find T, and is there a slick
way
> of converting the psuedo code above into XSLT?
>
> Thanks,
> Bix
>
>
>
>
>
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>


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