XSLT Element

The <xsl:choose> element is used in conjunction with <xsl:when> and <xsl:otherwise> to express multiple conditional tests.

The <xsl:choose> Element

Syntax

<xsl:choose>
  <xsl:when test="expression">
    ... some output ...
  </xsl:when>
  <xsl:otherwise>
    ... some output ....
  </xsl:otherwise>
</xsl:choose>

Where to put the Choose Condition

To insert a multiple conditional test against the XML file, add the <xsl:choose>, <xsl:when>, and <xsl:otherwise> elements to the XSL file:

Example

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">

<xsl:template match="/">
  <html>
  <body>
  <h2>My CD Collection</h2>
  <table border="1">
    <tr bgcolor="#9acd32">
      <th>Title</th>
      <th>Artist</th>
    </tr>
    <xsl:for-each select="catalog/cd">
    <tr>
      <td><xsl:value-of select="title"/></td>
      <xsl:choose>
        <xsl:when test="price &gt; 10">
          <td bgcolor="#ff00ff">
          <xsl:value-of select="artist"/></td>
        </xsl:when>
        <xsl:otherwise>
          <td><xsl:value-of select="artist"/></td>
        </xsl:otherwise>
      </xsl:choose>
    </tr>
    </xsl:for-each>
  </table>
  </body>
  </html>
</xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

The code above will add a pink background-color to the “Artist” column WHEN the price of the CD is higher than 10.

Another Example

Here is another example that contains two <xsl:when> elements:

Example

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">

<xsl:template match="/">
  <html>
  <body>
  <h2>My CD Collection</h2>
  <table border="1">
    <tr bgcolor="#9acd32">
      <th>Title</th>
      <th>Artist</th>
    </tr>
    <xsl:for-each select="catalog/cd">
    <tr>
      <td><xsl:value-of select="title"/></td>
      <xsl:choose>
        <xsl:when test="price &gt; 10">
          <td bgcolor="#ff00ff">
          <xsl:value-of select="artist"/></td>
        </xsl:when>
        <xsl:when test="price &gt; 9">
          <td bgcolor="#cccccc">
          <xsl:value-of select="artist"/></td>
        </xsl:when>
        <xsl:otherwise>
          <td><xsl:value-of select="artist"/></td>
        </xsl:otherwise>
      </xsl:choose>
    </tr>
    </xsl:for-each>
  </table>
  </body>
  </html>
</xsl:template>

</xsl:stylesheet>

The code above will add a pink background color to the “Artist” column WHEN the price of the CD is higher than 10, and a grey background-color WHEN the price of the CD is higher than 9 and lower or equal to 10.