Question

I’m using XSLT 1.0

I have a node that sometimes has a ~ in it:

<node id="123~001"/>

And sometimes it doesn’t:

<node id="123"/>

I’m wondering if the substring-before command allows for optional characters? If it doesn’t what is the best way to check to see if the ~ exists or not?

Answer 1

Just add an -, then there always is one:

substring-before(concat(@id, "-"), "-")