XSLT Reference
array:remove()
Returns a new array with the members at the specified 1-based positions removed.
array:remove(array, positions)Description
array:remove() returns a new array with specified members omitted. The positions argument is a sequence of 1-based integers identifying the members to remove. Positions may be supplied in any order; duplicates are ignored. Members not listed in positions are retained in their original relative order.
If positions is the empty sequence, the function returns a copy of the input array unchanged. All specified positions must be valid (between 1 and array:size(array) inclusive); an out-of-range position raises a dynamic error.
Parameters
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
array | array(*) | Yes | The source array. |
positions | xs:integer* | Yes | A sequence of 1-based positions to remove. |
Return value
array(*) — a new array with the specified members removed, preserving the relative order of remaining members.
Examples
Removing a single member
Stylesheet:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="3.0"
xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
xmlns:array="http://www.w3.org/2005/xpath-functions/array">
<xsl:output method="text"/>
<xsl:template match="/">
<xsl:variable name="a" select="['A', 'B', 'C', 'D']"/>
<xsl:variable name="result" select="array:remove($a, 2)"/>
<xsl:value-of select="array:flatten($result)" separator=" "/>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>
Output:
A C D
Removing multiple members
Input XML:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<data/>
Stylesheet:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="3.0"
xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
xmlns:array="http://www.w3.org/2005/xpath-functions/array">
<xsl:output method="xml" indent="yes"/>
<xsl:template match="/data">
<xsl:variable name="a" select="[10, 20, 30, 40, 50]"/>
<!-- Remove positions 1 and 3 -->
<xsl:variable name="result" select="array:remove($a, (1, 3))"/>
<remaining>
<xsl:for-each select="1 to array:size($result)">
<item><xsl:value-of select="array:get($result, .)"/></item>
</xsl:for-each>
</remaining>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>
Output:
<remaining>
<item>20</item>
<item>40</item>
<item>50</item>
</remaining>
Notes
array:remove()removes by position, not by value. To remove by value, combinearray:filter()with a value comparison.- Positions are 1-based, consistent with all other array functions.
- Duplicate positions in the
positionssequence are silently ignored. - Removing all positions results in an empty array
[]; removing no positions (()) returns a copy of the input.