Exactly for this reason, I once suggested to add <xsl:with> (or maybe: 
<xsl:with-context>) to the language. It would be like <xsl:for-each>, 
but has the benefit that there could be a check if the select-expression 
really matches only one item, not more. There can be discussion on 
whether or not to allow the select-expression to match an empty sequence.

Currently, I use to add a comment to my <xsl:for-each> that explains 
that it will iterate only once.

Pieter

On 5/1/24 13:31, David Carlisle d.p.carlisle@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
>
> B  <xsl:sequence 
> select="$record/(f:convert(Customer_or_Area_Code),f:convert(Cycle_Date),f:convert(Sequence_Number))"/>
>
> David
>
> On Wed, 1 May 2024 at 12:28, Roger L Costello costello@xxxxxxxxx 
> <xsl-list-service@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>     Hi Folks,
>
>     I have a function that I pass "record" to:
>
>     <xsl:function name="f:procedureLeg" as="element()+">
>     B  B  B  B  <xsl:param name="record" as="element()"/>
>     B  B  B  B ...
>     </xsl:function>
>
>     "record" is an element that contains a bunch of child elements
>     which the function must process.
>
>     So, "record" is the context for those child elements.
>
>     One approach to process the child elements is to qualify them with
>     "$record/" like this:
>
>     <xsl:function name="f:procedureLeg" as="element()+">
>     B  B  B  B  <xsl:param name="record" as="element()"/>
>
>     B  B  B  B <xsl:sequence
>     select="f:convert($record/Customer_or_Area_Code)"/>
>     B  B  B  B <xsl:sequence select="f:convert($record/Cycle_Date)"/>
>     B  B  B  B <xsl:sequence select="f:convert($record/Sequence_Number)"/>
>     B  B  B  ...
>     </xsl:function>
>
>     That's horrible. Qualifying every child element is tedious and
>     error prone (I am likely to forget to qualify some child elements).
>
>     Another approach, which avoids qualifying every child element, is
>     to set the context via a for-each loop:
>
>     <xsl:function name="f:procedureLeg" as="element()+">
>     B  B  B  B  <xsl:param name="record" as="element()"/>
>
>     B  B  B  B <xsl:for-each select="$record">
>     B  B  B  B  B  B  B <xsl:sequence select="f:convert(Customer_or_Area_Code)"/>
>     B  B  B  B  B  B  B <xsl:sequence select="f:convert(Cycle_Date)"/>
>     B  B  B  B  B  B  B <xsl:sequence select="f:convert(Sequence_Number)"/>
>     B  B  B  B  B  B  ...
>     B  B  B  </xsl:for-each>
>     </xsl:function>
>
>     That's lousy as well. "record" is just a single element; I
>     shouldn't be looping over a single element (in my opinion).
>
>     Is there a better way? One that doesn't involve qualifying every
>     child element and doesn't involve looping over a single element?
>
>     /Roger
>
>
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