A Formal Model for an Expressive Fragment of XSLT

Abstract

The aim of this paper is two-fold. First, we want to show that the recent extension of XSL with variables and passing of data values between template rules has increased its expressiveness beyond that of most other current XML query languages. Second, in an attempt to increase the understanding of this already wide-spread but not so transparent language, we provide an essential and powerful fragment with a formal syntax and a precise semantics.