I have found a case where xsl:key seems not to be working.
I am using XSLT 1 with Xalan (compiled) and this is what is happening:
1.- This works: key named test1 works fine:
<xsl:variable name="promosRTF">
<xsl:copy-of select="promo[@valid='true']"/>
</xsl:variable>
<xsl:variable name="promos" select="xalan:nodeset($promosRTF)" />
<!-- now the key: when defined and used here it works fine: -->
<xsl:key name="test1" match="//promo" use="'anytext'" />
<xsl:for-each select="key('test1','anytext')/*">
loop through elements in key... ok, works fine
</xsl:for-each>
<xsl:for-each select="$promos/*">
..loop through elements in variable $promos ...it is not empty so the loop iterates several times
</xsl:for-each>
2.- This doesn't work: key test1 is now defined and used (which is the important point, I guess) inside a loop that iterates through elements obtained with xalan:nodeset
<xsl:variable name="promosRTF">
<xsl:copy-of select="promo[@valid='true']"/>
</xsl:variable>
<xsl:variable name="promos" select="xalan:nodeset($promosRTF)" />
<xsl:for-each select="$promos/*">
<!-- now the key: when defined and used (or just used) inside this for-each loop it does nothing: -->
<xsl:key name="test1" match="//promo" use="'anytext'" />
<xsl:for-each select="key('test1','anytext')/*">
loop through elements in key... NOTHING HERE, it does not work :(
</xsl:for-each>
..loop through elements in variable $promos ...it is not empty so iterates several times
</xsl:for-each>
Does anybody know what is happening? Notice that variable $promos is not empty, so the loop really iterates, it is the key used inside it which does nothing.
Thank you very much in advance.
PS: after Martin's answer I post this alternative code, which doesn't work either:
<xsl:variable name="promosRTF">
<xsl:copy-of select="promo[@valid='true']"/>
</xsl:variable>
<xsl:variable name="promos" select="xalan:nodeset($promosRTF)" />
<!-- now the key: defined as a first level element: -->
<xsl:key name="test1" match="//promo" use="'anytext'" />
<xsl:for-each select="$promos/*">
<!-- but used inside this for-each loop it does nothing: -->
<xsl:for-each select="key('test1','anytext')/*">
loop through elements in key... NOTHING HERE, it does not work :(
</xsl:for-each>
..loop through elements in variable $promos ...it is not empty so iterates several times
</xsl:for-each>
Solution: In Martin's comments was the key to the problem: nodes in a result tree fragment are treated as nodes in a different document.
Martin pointed the workaround too: In XSLT 1.0 you need to change the context node using a for-each and then call key inside the for-each. This code will work then:
<xsl:variable name="promosRTF">
<xsl:copy-of select="promo[@valid='true']"/>
</xsl:variable>
<xsl:variable name="promos" select="xalan:nodeset($promosRTF)" />
<!-- now the key -->
<xsl:key name="test1" match="//promo" use="'anytext'" />
<xsl:for-each select="$promos/*">
<!-- inside this for-each we are in a different *document*, so we must go back: -->
<xsl:for-each select="/">
<xsl:for-each select="key('test1','anytext')/*">
loop through elements in key... and now IT WORKS, thanks Martin :)
</xsl:for-each>
</xsl:for-each>
..loop through elements in variable $promos ...it is not empty so iterates several times
</xsl:for-each>