RE: p:split-sequence gives "Undeclared variable in XPath expression"

That is because in this case, the p:split-sequence *step* evaluates the “test” XPath expression, not the processor. (This is similar to, for instance, to the p:string-replace step). In the step XPath context (see 2.6.1.2 Step XPath Context in the XProc specification), the variable bindings are empty.

The problem is that the value of the “test” option that the step gets is “$option” and not “true()”. The value is just a string that the step then interprets as an XPath expression. So, to make your example work, you should do the following (note the apostrophes around true() – they are important, as I will explain below):

<p:option name="option" select="'true()'"/>

<p:split-sequence>
  <p:with-option name=”test” select=”$option”/>
</p:split-sequence>

What this does is that because the long-form p:with-option is used, the processor first evaluates the p:with-option/@select expression (using the processor step context in which $option can be resolved) and passes the result (the string ”true()” – the quotes are not part of the string) to the p:split-sequence step – which then evaluates it as an XPath expression using the step XPath context.

Now about the apostrophes around true() in the declaration of the “option” option. They make sure that the value of the option is a string “true()” and not just “true” (quotes not part of the strings). The former is an XPath expression that results in boolean TRUE, whereas the latter is an XPath expression that is a node test (for the element named “true”). Therefore what you want to pass as the value for the “test” option of p:split-sequence is “true()”.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Vojtech

--
Vojtech Toman
Consultant Software Engineer
EMC | Information Intelligence Group
vojtech.toman@emc.com
http://developer.emc.com/xmltech


From: xproc-dev-request@w3.org [mailto:xproc-dev-request@w3.org] On Behalf Of Jostein Austvik Jacobsen
Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2011 3:52 PM
To: XProc Dev
Subject: p:split-sequence gives "Undeclared variable in XPath expression"

Hi all.

I'm always excited when I come across a use-case that lets me use an XProc step that I haven't used before, and today I tried p:split-sequence. It seemed pretty straight forward, however I stumbled upon a problem right away. This pipeline doesn't work:


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<p:declare-step xmlns:p="http://www.w3.org/ns/xproc" version="1.0">

    <p:input port="source" sequence="true">
        <p:inline>
            <doc/>
        </p:inline>
    </p:input>
    <p:output port="result" sequence="true"/>
    <p:option name="option" select="true()"/>

    <p:split-sequence test="$option"/>

</p:declare-step>


This fails with the message "Undeclared variable in XPath expression: $option". If I replace test="$option" with either test="true()" or test="position()=1" it works. But when I introduce a variable or option into the test, it fails. So what am I missing here?


Regards
Jostein