Question

I could use some help creating an XSL template that will take a string of numbers (i.e., 123456789) and format that string into a Social Security Number format (i.e., 123-45-6789). I found one example on the Internet, but it seemed overcomplicated.

I’m new to XSLT, so please keep that in mind when replying. Thank you!

Answer 1

XSLT 1.0’s string functions are a bit limited, but fortunately this isn’t too hard:

Assuming < ssn >123456789< /ssn>:

<xsl:template match='ssn'>         <xsl:value-of select='substring(., 0, 4)'/>     <xsl:text>-</xsl:text>     <xsl:value-of select='substring(., 4, 2)'/>     <xsl:text>-</xsl:text>     <xsl:value-of select='substring(., 6, 4)'/>     </xsl:template> 

In XSLT 2.0, concat() can take more than two arguments, so it’s a single line:

  <xsl:template match='ssn'>         <xsl:value-of select='concat(substring(., 0, 4), '-', substring(., 4, 2), '-', substring(., 6, 4))' />        </xsl:template>