RE: automatic generation of figure numbers

["Dhruv Raheja" <dhruv_r at hotmail dot com>]

Hello,
        Thank you for your mail. I think I need to clarify the "reference" 
part of my problem.  Below is a sample of my XML code. I apologize for the 
clumsy formatting/indenting, basically when I pasted the code into the email 
editor, the indenting etc got disturbed.
As you will see below, the <figure> element is interspersed with other 
elements. The <figure> element is used wherever I feel the need to insert an 
image/picture. I have attempted to highlight the places (in the code) where 
the <figure> element is being used so that it is easy for you to spot the 
element. I have used the following method to indicate the presence of the 
element:

****INSTANCE 1 <figure file="pic.gif">Figure</figure>***** As you can see, I 
have inserted *****INSTANCE 1 at the beginning (to indicate the number of 
ocurrence) and **** at the end of the element. **** INSTANCE 1 do not form 
part of the actual code. I just thought I should clarify that before I 
explain the code.

<component type="DC CONTACTOR-41A296327AM"  toc2="contactor">
  <activity type="FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTION"  toc2="func_desc">
       <text_description>
	   <para>
	      The Type 41A296327AM DC Contactor
              ****INSTANCE 1<figure file="one.gif">figure</figure>****** is 
a
	       magnetically operated device used for opening and
	      closing electrical power circuits. The contactor is
	      equipped with one stationary and two movable main
	      contacts. The movable contacts are mounted on an ar-
	      mature which closes when the operating  coil is            energized.
	      Removing power from the operating coil permits
	      the spring-loaded armature to open and to break the
	      electrical circuit made by the main contacts.
	      The contactor can also actuate control circuits
	      through auxiliary contacts, called interlocks        *******INSTANCE 
2<figure file="two.gif">Figure</figure>*********. These op-erate in 
conjunction with the armature of the contactor.
	An arc chute, mounted over the contacts, helps to
	extinguish the electrical arc generated when the contac-tor
	opens.
	</para>
	</text_description>
<activity type="INSPECTION"  toc2="inspect">
	<warning>
	<para>
	WARNING: To prevent personal injury from elec-trical
	shock, turn off power before inspecting the
	contactor.
	</para>
	</warning>
	<text_description>
	<para>
	In general, the inspection schedule for the contactor
	should conform to the inspection schedule established
	for the vehicle but may be modified, as required, by actual
	operating experience. *****INSTANCE 3 <figure 
file="three.gif">Figure</figure>*******
	The following information is offered as a general inspection
	guide which calls attention to what should be
	inspected and what to look for when making the inspec-tion.
	If the inspection results call for corrective mainte-nance
	to be performed, the procedures for carrying out
        such maintenance are covered in the MAINTENANCE
	section of this publication. *******INSTANCE 4<figure   
file="one.gif">Figure</figure>*****
	Visually inspect contactor for dirt or contaminants.
	Clean contactor if necessary. Check for loose electrical
	connections and mounting hardware. Tighten all loose
        hardware. Check for worn connecting wires. If wires are
        worn, correct the cause of wear and replace wires.
       </para>
       </text_description>
       </activity>

In the code, you will see that each <figure> has a required attribute called 
"file" which is used in the XSL code to point to the gif file that a 
particular <figure> element refers to, e.g. <figure file = 
one.gif>Figure</figure> means that this particular instance of the <figure> 
element points to the file "one.gif". Now, the way that XSL formats the 
<figure> element is as follows:
XSL converts the text within <figure> to a hyperlink. In addition to that, 
it generates a number that it places alongside the text (concatenation)and 
it actually hyperlinks the contatenated piece, i.e. for the first instance 
of <figure>, it generates a number "1" and appends this to the text of 
<figure>. The text of <figure> is "Figure". So the final output is the 
hyperlink "Figure 1". This hyperlink points to the file specified by the 
attribute "file" e.g. if you click on the hyperlink "Figure 1" in the 
output, the file "one.gif" is opened.
How do I generate the number "1"? Well I was using the following code in the 
XSL code (similar to what Sebastian suggested):

<xsl:template match="figure">
  <xsl:variable name="fig">
    <xsl:number level="any"/>
  </xsl:variable>
  <a>
    <xsl:attribute name="href">
     <xsl:value-of select="@file"/>
    </xsl:attribute>
    <xsl:value-of select="."/><xsl:value-of select="$fig"/>
  </a>
</xsl:template>

Here the variable "fig" is used to generate the figure number.

However if you see the XML code, there are 4 instances of the <figure> 
element as shown


ATTRIBUTE VALUE OF "file" ATTRIBUTE                INSTANCE "NO"
FOR DIFFERENT <figure> ELEMENTS

        one.gif                                     INSTANCE 1
        two.gif                                     INSTANCE 2
        three.gif                                   INSTANCE 3
        one.gif                                     INSTANCE 4

The first 3 instances have unique/different "file" values, which means that 
they point to different image files. However the 4th instance has the same 
value for the  "file" attribute as the 1st instance. This measn that 
somewhere in the document I feel the need to refer to "Figure 1" again , 
i.e. I may have multiple occurences of "Figure 1" in the document. Now my 
XSL code generates a new integer for each occurence of <figure>.  However 
the problem arises when I need  "Figure 1" to occur again, i.e. basically I 
want the number "1" (or whatever the number might be) to occur again. The 
XSL code should somehow compare the "file" value of the current <figure> 
element with the "file" values of all the preceding <figure> elements and if 
it finds that there is a match (which it will if two <figure> elements point 
to the same file), it should assign the same number to the current <figure> 
element as it did to the earlier "matching" <figure> element.
I hope I have the problem is clearer now. I would be very grateful if you 
could suggest a solution. Thank you very much for you help.

Thanks,
Regards,
Dhruv





>From: "Cline, Ken" <kcline@grci.com>
>To: "'XSL-List@mulberrytech.com'" <XSL-List@mulberrytech.com>
>CC: "'dhruv_r@hotmail.com'" <dhruv_r@hotmail.com>
>Subject: RE: automatic generation of figure numbers
>Date: Wed, 4 Oct 2000 12:02:54 -0400
>
>If I understand your situation, you're trying to DEFINE a figure using the
><figure> element and also to REFERENCE a figure using the same <figure>
>element.  If this is true, you're going to have a rough time solving your
>problem.
>
>To refer to a figure that you've DEFINED with a <figure> element, you 
>should
>use a different element type (something like <figurereference>) You would
>then have some hope of making it work.
>
>KLC
>----------------------
>My problem is that I may have more than I references to the same figure.
>i.e. lets say I want have "Figure 1" more than once in the document. I use
><figure file="pic.gif"> Figure </figure> for the first occurence of Figure 
>1
>and the XSL code generates the output "Figure 1". I then subsequently have
>several <figure> elements for different figures and XSL accordingly assigns
>a number for each <figure> element, e.g. "Figure 2", "Figure 3" etc. Then I
>feel the need to refer back to "Figure 1". This is what is causing a
>problem. How do I tell XSL to stop counting at this point and assign the
>same figure number as for "Figure 1". One solution was that every time XSL
>sees the <figure> element, it compares the attribute "file" of the current
><figure> element to the "file" attribute of all the previous <figure>
>elements.  If it finds any match (which it will if the same figure is being
>referenced again), it should stop the count and assign the same number to
>this element.
>

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