> From: cknell@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:cknell@xxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: 13 August, 2007 09:44
> To: xsl-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject:  Coding aroung a "Cannot convert zero-length
> string to an integer" error
>
> <xsl:function name="ck:excel-serial-date" as="xs:string?">
>   <xsl:param name="input-date" as="xs:string?"/>
>   <xsl:value-of select="if($input-date = '') then '' else
> xs:string(xs:integer(translate(xs:string(xs:date($input-date)-
> xs:date('1900-01-01')),'PD','')))"/>
> </xsl:function>
>
> I thought that this fragment "if($input-date = '') then ''
> ..." would short-circuit any attempt to convert a zero-length
> string to an integer, but apparently I have misapprehended
> something key here. Can anyone point out where I've gone
> wrong and suggest a fix?

I think the issue is that an empty string is not the same as a
non-existent node.  You might need to change the test to:

if(not(exists($input-date)) or normalize-space($input-date) = '')

although you might be able to shorten it to:

if (normalize-space($input-date) = '')


Andy.