the following isn't tested and there may be a more elegant solution
but this is probably how I would handle a situation like this:

<xsl:apply-templates match="container">

	<xsl:choose>
		<xsl:when test="@select &gt; 0">
			<xsl:for-each select="item">
				<xsl:comment>Same dirty Business</xsl:comment>
			</xsl:for-each>
		</xsl:when>
		<xsl:otherwise>
			<xsl:for-each select="item">
				<xsl:if test="position() &lt;= @select">
					<xsl:comment>Do your dirty business here</xsl:comment>
				</xsl:if>
			</xsl:for-each>
		</xsl:otherwise>
	</xsl:choose>

</xsl:apply-templates>

hope that helps :)

Nick

On 8/21/07, Andreas Kemkes <a5sk4s@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> XSLT 1.0 is a constraint.
>
> I'm having trouble with a select expression to select the marked elements (<!--X-->) in the following XML:
>
> <container select="2">
>   <item>...</item><!--X-->
>   <item>...</item><!--X-->
>
>   <item>...</item>
>
> </container>
> <container>
>
>   <item>...</item><!--X-->
>
>   <item>...</item><!--X-->
>
>
>   <item>...</item><!--X-->
>
>
> </container>
>
> <container select="1">
>
>   <item>...</item><!--X-->
>   <item>...</item>
>
>   <item>...</item>
>
>   <item>...</item>
>
> </container>
>
> In the case of a no select attribute all items in the container should be in the node set.
> If there is a attribute select="n", only the first "n" items should be in the node set.
> The expression needs to work across all containers.
>
> There is the additional constraint that only items with parent container are to be selected.
>
>
> Where could I start to look for code examples that solves a similar problem?
>
> Thanks in advance for your help.
>
>
>
>
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