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Version 4.8.0
Search manual

- Main page
- Introduction
- Hello, world!
- Basics
  - How to write the layout
  - Structure of the data file and the layout rules
  - Outputting objects
  - Grid
  - Areas on the page (PositioningArea)
  - File organization
  - Hyphenation / language settings
  - Using fonts
  - Text formats
  - Text formatting
  - Colors
- Programming
- Image inclusion
- Tables
- Advanced topics
  - Bookmarks
  - Creation of XML structures
  - Print output / crop marks
  - Using CSS with the speedata Publisher
  - Groups (virtual objects)
  - Virtual pages
  - Rotation of contents
  - Sorting data
  - Wrap around images
  - Page types
  - Starting the Publisher via the Hotfolder
  - Lua-Filter / pre-processing
  - Schema validation
  - Quality assurance and PDF comparison
  - Troubleshooting / Debugging
  - Server mode (REST API)
  - Control of the layout when calling the Publisher
  - Create and use images with MetaPost
- Cookbook
  - Thumb index
  - Embed multipage PDF files
  - Layout optimization using groups
  - Imitate bulleted lists
  - Automatically generated directories
  - Create table of contents in one go
  - Page numbers: Page x of y
- Installation instructions
- File name in the Publisher
- speedata Publisher defaults
- Running the speedata publisher on the command line
- How to configure the speedata publisher
- Lenghts and units
- XPath- and Layoutfunctions
- Internal variables
- Associate XML editor with schema
  - Visual Studio Code
  - OxygenXML
  - Atom
- Changelog
- Glossary
- Compatibility with other software
- Command reference
  - A
  - Action
  - AddSearchpath
  - AtPageCreation
  - AtPageShipout
  - AttachFile
  - Attribute
  - B
  - Barcode
  - Bold
  - BoldItalic
  - Bookmark
  - Box
  - Br
  - Case
  - Circle
  - ClearPage
  - Color
  - Column
  - Columns
  - Compatibility
  - Contents
  - Copy-of
  - DefineColor
  - DefineColorprofile
  - DefineFontalias
  - DefineFontfamily
  - DefineGraphic
  - DefineMatter
  - DefineTextformat
  - Element
  - Fallback
  - Fontface
  - ForAll
  - Frame
  - Grid
  - Group
  - Groupcontents
  - HSpace
  - Hyphenation
  - I
  - Image
  - Include
  - Initial
  - InsertPages
  - Italic
  - Layout
  - Li
  - LoadDataset
  - LoadFontfile
  - Loop
  - Makeindex
  - Margin
  - Mark
  - Message
  - NewPage
  - NextFrame
  - NextRow
  - NoBreak
  - Ol
  - Options
  - Otherwise
  - Output
  - Overlay
  - Pageformat
  - Pagetype
  - Paragraph
  - PDFOptions
  - PlaceObject
  - Position
  - PositioningArea
  - PositioningFrame
  - ProcessNode
  - Record
  - Regular
  - Rule
  - SaveDataset
  - SavePages
  - SetGrid
  - SetVariable
  - SortSequence
  - Stylesheet
  - Span
  - Sub
  - Sup
  - Switch
  - Table
  - TableNewPage
  - Tablefoot
  - Tablehead
  - Tablerule
  - Td
  - Text
  - Textblock
  - Tr
  - Trace
  - Transformation
  - U
  - Ul
  - Until
  - URL
  - Value
  - VSpace
  - While

- Dieses Handbuch auf Deutsch

# XPath- and Layoutfunctions

## XPath expressions

The speedata Publisher accepts XPath expressions in some attributes. These attributes are called test or select or documented as such. In all other attributes XPath expressions can be used via curly braces (`{` and `}`). In the following example XPath expressions are used in the attribute width and in the element Value. The width of the textblock is taken from the variable `$width`, the contents of the paragraph is the string value of the current node.

    <Textblock width="{$width}">
      <Paragraph>
        <Value select="."/>
      </Paragraph>
    </Textblock>

## The following XPath expressions are handled by the software:

- Number: Return the value without change: `"5"`
- Text: Return the text without change: `'hello world'`
- Arithmetic operation (`*`, `div`, `idiv`, `+`, `-`, `mod`). Example: `( 6 + 4.5 ) * 2`
- Variables. Example: `$column + 2`
- Access to the current node (dot operator). Example: `. + 2`
- Access to subelements. Examples: `productdata`, `node()`, `*`, `foo/bar`
- Attribute access in the current node. Example `@a`
- Attribute access in subnodes, for example `foo/@bar`
- Boolean expressions: `<`, `>`, `<=`, `>=`, `=`, `!=`. Attention, the less than symbol `<` must be written in XML as `&lt;`, the symbol `>` may be written as `>`. Example: `$number > 6`. Can be used in tests.
- Simple if/then/else expressions: if (…​) then …​ else …​.

## The following XPath functions are known to the system:

There are two classes of XPath functions: standard XPath functions and speedata Publisher specific ones. The specific functions are in the namespace `urn:speedata:2009/publisher/functions/en` (denoted by `sd:` below). The standard functions should behave like documented by the XPath 2.0 standard.

## sd layout functions

`sd:allocated(x,y,<areaname>,<framenumber>)`

  Return true if the grid cell is allocated, false otherwise (since 2.3.71).

`sd:alternating(<type>, <text>,<text>,.. )`

  On each call the next element will be returned. You can define more alternating sequences by using distinct type values. Example: sd:alternating("tbl", "White","Gray") can be used for alternating color of table rules. To reset the state, use sd:reset-alternating(<type>).

`sd:aspectratio(<imagename>)`

  Return the result of the division width by height of the given image. (< 1 for portrait images, > 1 for landscape).

`sd:attr(<name>, …​)`

  Is the same as @name, but can be used to dynamically construct the attribute name. See example at sd:variable().

`sd:count-saved-pages(<name>)`

  Return the number of saved pages from <SavePages>.

`sd:current-column(<name>)`

  Return the current column. If name is given, return the column of the given frame.

`sd:current-framenumber(<name>)`

  Return the current frame number of given positioning area.

`sd:current-page()`

  Return the current page number.

`sd:current-row(<name>)`

  Return the current row. If name is given, return the row of the given frame.

`sd:decode-base64(<contents>)`

  Expect a string encoded in base64 and return the binary contents.

`sd:decode-html(<node>)`

  Change text such as <i>italic</i> into HTML markup.

`sd:dimexpr(<string>)`

  Deprecated Evaluate the string as a dimension with a unit. Handy if you want to add / multiply lengths. Example: "2mm + 5cm". Since version 4.5.7 you can now calculate with dimensions directly.

`sd:dummytext([<count>])`

  Return a “Lorem ispum…​ ” dummytext. The count defaults to 1.

`sd:even(<number>)`

  True if number is even. Example: sd:even(sd:current-page())

`sd:file-exists(<filename or URI schema>)`

  True if file exists in the current search path. Otherwise it returns false.

`sd:filecontents(<binarycontent>)`

  Save the given contents into a file and return the file name.

`sd:firstmark(pagenumber)`

  The first marker of the given page number. Useful for headings in dictionarys where the first and the last entry of a page is given.

`sd:first-free-row(<name>)`

  Return the first free row of this area (experimental).

`sd:format-number(Number or string, thousands separator, comma separator)`

  Format the number and insert thousands separators and change comma separator. Example: sd:format-number(12345.67, ',','.') returns the string 12,345.67.

`sd:format-string(object, object, …​ ,formatting instructions)`

  Return a text string with the objects formatted as given by the formatting instructions. These instructions are the same as the instructions by the C function printf().

`sd:group-height(<string>[, <unit>])`

  Return the given group’s height (in gridcells). See sd:group-width(…​) If provided with an optional second argument, it returns the height of the group in multiples of this unit. For example sd:group-height('mygroup', 'in') returns the group height in inches.

`sd:group-width(<string>[, <unit>])`

  Return the number of gridcells of the given group’s width. The argument must be the name of an existing group. Example: sd:group-width('My group'). See sd:group-height() for description of the second parameter.

`sd:imageheight(<filename or URI schema>)`

  Natural height of the image in grid cells. Attention: if the image is not found, the height of the file-not-found placeholder will be returned. Therefore you need to check in advance if the image exists.

`sd:imagewidth(<filename or URI schema>)`

  Natural width of the image in grid cells. Attention: if the image is not found, the width of the file-not-found placeholder will be returned. Therefore you need to check in advance if the image exists.

`sd:keep-alternating(<type>)`

  Use the current value of sd:alternating(<type>) without changing the value.

`sd:lastmark(pagenumber)`

  The first marker of the given page number. Useful for headings in dictionarys where the first and the last entry of a page is given.

`sd:loremipsum()`

  Same as sd:dummytext()

`sd:merge-pagenumbers(<pagenumbers>,<separator for range>,<separator for space>, [hyperlinks])`

  Merge page numbers. For example the numbers "1, 3, 4, 5" are merged into 1, 3–5. Defaults for the separator for the range is an en-dash (–), default for the spacing separator is ', ' (comma, space). This function sorts the page numbers and removes duplicates. When the separator for range is empty, the page numbers are separated each with the separator for the space. If hyperlinks is set to `true()`, the page numbers become active. The default is `false()`. The function will show the user visible page numbers, which correspond to the logical page numbers by default.

`sd:mode(<string>[,<string>…​])`

  Returns true (`true()`) if one of the specified modes is set. A mode can be set from the command line or from the configuration file. See Control of the layout when calling the Publisher

`sd:number-of-columns()`

  Number of columns in the current grid.

`sd:number-of-pages(<filename or URI schema>)`

  Determines the number of pages of a (PDF-)file.

`sd:number-of-rows()`

  Number of rows in the current grid.

`sd:odd(<number>)`

  True if number is odd.

`sd:pagenumber(<string>)`

  Get the number of the page where the given mark is placed on. See the command Mark.

`sd:romannumeral(<number>)`

  Convert the number into a lowercase roman numeral.

`sd:randomitem(<Value>,<Value>, …)`

  Return one of the values.

`sd:reset-alternating(<type>)`

  Reset alternating so the next sd:alternating() starts again from the first element.

`sd:sha1(<value>,<value>, …)`

  Return the SHA-1 sum of the concatenation of each value as a hex string. Example: sd:sha1('hello ', 'world') gives the string 2aae6c35c94fcfb415dbe95f408b9ce91ee846ed.

`sd:tounit(<string>,<string>[,<number>])`

  Return a scalar of the unit given in the second argument converted to the unit given in the first argument rounded to the digits in the third argument (defaults to 0 - return integer values). Example: `sd:tounit('pt','1pc')` returns 12, because there are 12pt in 1pc (pica point).

`sd:variable(<name>, …​)`

  The same as $name. This function allows variable names to be constructed dynamically. Example: sd:variable('myvar',$num) – if $num contains the number 3, the resulting variable name is myvar3.

`sd:variable-exists(<name>)`

  True if variable name exists.

`sd:visible-pagenumber(<number>)`

  Return the user visible page number (as defined by matters) for the given real page number.

## XPath functions

`abs(<number>)`

  Return the positve value of the number.

`ceiling()`

  Round to the higher integer. `ceiling(-1.34)` returns 1, `ceiling(1.34)` returns 2.

`concat( <value>,<value>, … )`

  Create a new text value by concatenating the arguments.

`contains(<haystack>,<needle>)`

  True if haystack contains needle. `contains('bana','na')` returns `true()`.

`count(<text>)`

  Counts all child elements with the given name. Example: `count(article)` counts how many child elements with the name `article` exist.

`ceiling()`

  Returns the smallest number with no fractional part that is not less than the value of the given argument.

`empty(<attribute>)`

  Checks, if an attribute is (not) available.

`false()`

  Return false.

`floor()`

  Returns the largest number with no fractional part that is not greater than the value of the argument.

`last()`

  Return the number of elements of the same named sibling elements. Not yet XPath conform.

`local-name()`

  Return the local name (without namespace) of the current element.

`lower-case(<text>)`

  Return the text in lowercase letters.

`max()`

  Return the maximum value. `max(1.1,2.2,3.3,4.4)` returns `4.4`.

`min()`

  Return the minimum value. `min(1.1,2.2,3.3,4.4)` returns `1.1`.

`not()`

  Negates the value of the argument. Example: not(true()) returns false().

`normalize-space(<text>)`

  Return the text without leading and trailing spaces. All newlines will be changed to spaces. Multiple spaces/newlines will be changed to a single space.

`position()`

  Return the position of the current node.

`replace(<input>,<regexp>, <replacement>)`

  Replace the input using the regular expression with the given replacement text. Example: replace("banana", "a", "o") yields bonono.

`round(<number>,<number>`)`

  Return the argument in the first parameter rounded to number of deciaml places in the second parameter. The second parameter defaults to 0.

`string(<sequence>)`

  Return the text value of the sequence e.g. the contents of the elements.

`string-join(<sequence>,separator)`

  Return the string value of the sequence, where each element is separated by the separator.

`substring(<input>,<start>,<length>)`

  Return the part of the string input that starts at start and optionally has the given length. start can be (in contrast to the XPath specification) negative which counts from the end of the input.

`string-length(<string>)`

  Return the length of the string in characters. Multi-byte UTF-8 sequences are counted as 1.

`tokenize(<input>,<regexp>)`

  This function returns a sequence of strings. The input text is read from left to right. When the regular expression matches the current position, the text read so far from the last match is returned. Example (from the great XPath / XSLT book by M. Key): tokenize("Go home, Jack!", "\W+") returns the sequence "Go", "home", "Jack", "".

`true()`

  Return true.

`upper-case()`

  Converts the text to capital letters: `upper-case('text')` results in `TEXT'.

- Lenghts and units
- Internal variables