The XPath 2.0 functions and operators spec includes an algorithm to do
this as part of the definition of the deep-equal() function, and it's
fairly tortuous even using XPath 2.0 constructs. I would tackle it as a
grouping problem: take the union of the two sets of attributes, group
them on a compound key consisting of the attribute name and the
attribute value, and then check that each group has size 2.

Michael Kay

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-xsl-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
> [mailto:owner-xsl-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of 
> Arvind Bassi
> Sent: 29 October 2003 02:10
> To: XSL-List@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject:  How to compare the attributes of two elements 
> to ensure that they are equal
> 
> 
> What is the best way to compare two elements in terms of 
> their attributes, and the attribute values? I need to ensure 
> that each element has the same number of attributes, the same 
> attribute names and the same attribute values.
> 
> I am currently working on a stylesheet which compares two xml 
> documents, and generates the differences between them. I have 
> used Lar Huttar's xml document comparison stylesheet as my 
> base (located at http://www.dpawson.co.uk), but am stuck on 
> augmenting it with checks on attributes.
> 
> I am currently stuck with something along the lines of:
> 
>    ...
>        <xsl:call-template name="compare-attributes">
>           with nodes as parameters
>    ...
>    <xsl:template name="compare-attributes">
>         <xsl:param name="attrA"/>
>         <xsl:param name="attrB"/>
>         <xsl:for-each select="$attrA/@*">
>                .... check that the same attribute exists with
>                .... the same attribute exists 
>                if it does then compare the values for equality
> 
>         </xsl:for-each>
>     </xsl:template>
> 
> However, l cannot get a handle on each of the two attributes 
> to compare them. Can somebody help to fill in the blanks?
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> Arvind.
> 
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