Question

How can I eliminate duplicate nodes based on values of multiple (more than 1) attributes? Also the attribute names are passed as parameters to the stylesheet. Now I am aware of the Muenchian method of grouping that uses a <xsl:key> element. But I came to know that XSLT 1.0 does not allow paramters/variables in <xsl:key>.

Is there another method(s) to achieve duplicate nodes removal? It is fine if it not as efficient as the Munechian method.

Update from previus question:

XML:

<data id = "root">
  <record id="1" operator1='xxx' operator2='yyy' operator3='zzz'/>
  <record id="2" operator1='abc' operator2='yyy' operator3='zzz'/>
  <record id="3" operator1='abc' operator2='yyy' operator3='zzz'/>
  <record id="4" operator1='xxx' operator2='yyy' operator3='zzz'/>
  <record id="5" operator1='xxx' operator2='lkj' operator3='tyu'/>
  <record id="6" operator1='xxx' operator2='yyy' operator3='zzz'/>
  <record id="7" operator1='abc' operator2='yyy' operator3='zzz'/>
  <record id="8" operator1='abc' operator2='yyy' operator3='zzz'/>
  <record id="9" operator1='xxx' operator2='yyy' operator3='zzz'/>
  <record id="10" operator1='rrr' operator2='yyy' operator3='zzz'/>
</data>

Answer 1

Use this transformation (simple and no need to generate a new stylesheet):

<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"
 xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
 xmlns:ext="http://exslt.org/common">
 <xsl:output omit-xml-declaration="yes" indent="yes"/>
 <xsl:strip-space elements="*"/>

 <xsl:param name="pAttribs">
 <name>operator1</name>
 <name>operator2</name>
 <name>operator3</name>
 </xsl:param>

 <xsl:variable name="vAttribs" select=
    "document('')/*/xsl:param[@name='pAttribs']"/>

 <xsl:key name="kRecByAtts" match="record"
   use="@___g_key"/>

 <xsl:template match="node()|@*">
               <xsl:copy>
                       <xsl:apply-templates select="node()|@*"/>
               </xsl:copy>
 </xsl:template>

 <xsl:template match="/">
 <xsl:variable name="vrtdPass1">
   <xsl:apply-templates/>
 </xsl:variable>

 <xsl:variable name="vPass1" select=
  "ext:node-set($vrtdPass1)/*"/>

 <xsl:apply-templates select="$vPass1"/>
 </xsl:template>

 <xsl:template match="record[not(@___g_key)]">
 <xsl:copy>
   <xsl:copy-of select="@*"/>

   <xsl:attribute name="___g_key">
    <xsl:for-each select="@*[name()=$vAttribs/name]">
      <xsl:sort select="name()"/>

       <xsl:value-of select=
          "concat('___Attrib___',name(),'___Value___',.,'+++')"/>
    </xsl:for-each>
   </xsl:attribute>
 </xsl:copy>
 </xsl:template>

 <xsl:template match=
  "record[@___g_key]
         [not(generate-id()
             =
               generate-id(key('kRecByAtts', @___g_key)[1])
              )
          ]
   "/>

  <xsl:template match="@___g_key"/>
</xsl:stylesheet>

When applied to the XML document of your previous question:

<data id = "root">
    <record id="1" operator1='xxx' operator2='yyy' operator3='zzz'/>
    <record id="2" operator1='abc' operator2='yyy' operator3='zzz'/>
    <record id="3" operator1='abc' operator2='yyy' operator3='zzz'/>
    <record id="4" operator1='xxx' operator2='yyy' operator3='zzz'/>
    <record id="5" operator1='xxx' operator2='lkj' operator3='tyu'/>
    <record id="6" operator1='xxx' operator2='yyy' operator3='zzz'/>
    <record id="7" operator1='abc' operator2='yyy' operator3='zzz'/>
    <record id="8" operator1='abc' operator2='yyy' operator3='zzz'/>
    <record id="9" operator1='xxx' operator2='yyy' operator3='zzz'/>
    <record id="10" operator1='rrr' operator2='yyy' operator3='zzz'/>
</data>

The wanted, correct result is produced:

<data id="root">
   <record id="1" operator1="xxx" operator2="yyy" operator3="zzz"/>
   <record id="2" operator1="abc" operator2="yyy" operator3="zzz"/>
   <record id="5" operator1="xxx" operator2="lkj" operator3="tyu"/>
   <record id="10" operator1="rrr" operator2="yyy" operator3="zzz"/>
</data>