> Wouldn't it act just the same? I'm talking in a performance sense.

No, your solution tests that there is an item1 and if so outputs item1
and item2 (the latter may be empty) mine checked that there was an item
1 and an item2.

If you have

<control>
  <item1><data>x</data></item1>
</control>

your solution would output x but mine would output nothing as there is
no item2. I can't say which you need though.

David

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