position()

Description

position() returns an integer representing the 1-based position of the current context node within the node-set being iterated. It takes no arguments.

It is most commonly used inside xsl:for-each or predicates to:

• Generate row numbers or sequence numbers in the output.
• Apply alternating styles (odd/even rows).
• Conditionally process only specific positions (first, last, every nth item).
• Omit separators before or after specific items.

The context for position() is determined by the nearest enclosing iteration (xsl:for-each, xsl:apply-templates, or a predicate). Inside a predicate, position() refers to the position within the node-set being filtered, not the outer iteration.

Return value

xs:integer — the 1-based position of the context node within the current context sequence.

Examples

Row numbers in a table

Input XML:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<employees>
  <employee><name>Alice</name></employee>
  <employee><name>Bob</name></employee>
  <employee><name>Carol</name></employee>
</employees>

Stylesheet:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
  <xsl:output method="xml" indent="yes"/>

  <xsl:template match="/employees">
    <table>
      <xsl:for-each select="employee">
        <row number="{position()}">
          <xsl:value-of select="name"/>
        </row>
      </xsl:for-each>
    </table>
  </xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

Output:

<table>
  <row number="1">Alice</row>
  <row number="2">Bob</row>
  <row number="3">Carol</row>
</table>

Odd/even row class

Stylesheet:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
  <xsl:output method="xml" indent="yes"/>

  <xsl:template match="/employees">
    <table>
      <xsl:for-each select="employee">
        <row class="{if(position() mod 2 = 0, 'even', 'odd')}">
          <xsl:value-of select="name"/>
        </row>
      </xsl:for-each>
    </table>
  </xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

Output:

<table>
  <row class="odd">Alice</row>
  <row class="even">Bob</row>
  <row class="odd">Carol</row>
</table>

Note: the if() expression requires XSLT 2.0. In XSLT 1.0, use xsl:choose instead.

Select every second element using a predicate

<xsl:value-of select="employee[position() mod 2 = 1]/name" separator=", "/>

Notes

• position() inside a predicate [position() = 1] can be shortened to [1].
• The shorthand item[last()] selects the last item; item[1] selects the first.
• Document order is used by default; if xsl:sort is present, positions reflect the sorted order.
• Do not confuse position() with the numeric value of an @id attribute or similar content-based numbering — position() is purely about iteration order.

See also

• last()
• xsl:for-each