xslt-dita-helper

Overview

Generates and validates XSLT patterns for DITA content transformation.

Key principle: always match by @class, not by element name

DITA elements carry a @class attribute encoding the specialization hierarchy. Matching by element name breaks with specializations; matching by @class is robust.

<!-- ✅ Robust — works for all specializations of task/taskbody -->
<xsl:template match="*[contains(@class, ' task/taskbody ')]">
  <div class="taskbody"><xsl:apply-templates/></div>
</xsl:template>

<!-- ❌ Fragile — breaks if a specialization renames the element -->
<xsl:template match="taskbody">
  <div class="taskbody"><xsl:apply-templates/></div>
</xsl:template>

Class attribute reference

See references/CLASS-ATTRIBUTES.md for the full table.

Quick reference for common elements:

XSLT patterns reference

See assets/xslt-patterns.xsl for ready-to-use templates.

DITA-OT plugin override guidance

To override a built-in DITA-OT template in a plugin:

1. Set plugin.xml to declare a xsl/xslhtml extension point
2. Import xsl/dita2htmlImpl.xsl in your stylesheet
3. Write a higher-priority template: <xsl:template match="..." priority="10">

See references/DITA-OT-PLUGIN.md for full plugin scaffolding steps.

Common edge cases

• contains(@class, ' task/cmd ') — note the surrounding spaces in the string literal; they are required to avoid partial matches
• Processing instruction <?dita-ot ...?> nodes: use processing-instruction('dita-ot') in your XPath
• @outputclass is the DITA hook for custom CSS classes — pass it through with <xsl:attribute name="class" select="@outputclass"/>