I've modified my parser to copy attributes. Am I wrong?

[Dan Morrison <dman at es dot co dot nz>]

Hey there.
Due to a desire for simplicity and a dislike for the ugliness of
xsl:attribute workarounds, I've changed the Parser I'm using (XML::XSLT)
to allow formulations like:

 
<xsl:template match="TextField" name="TextField">
	<input type="Text">
		<xsl:copy-of select="@" />
	</input>	
</xsl:template>
 	
and

<xsl:template match="Button" name="Button">
	<input type="Button">
		<xsl:for-each select="@">
 			<xsl:copy-of select="." />
 		</xsl:for-each>
	</input>	
 </xsl:template>
 
(XML below if you can't guess what I'm doing ;-) )

I note that an attribute isn't /really/ a first class element, and that
the existing structure of XML::DOM doesn't encourage this sort of
manipulation, but... is this approach spec-evil or what?

I see nothing in the spec that forbids it

I've seen several threads asking how to achieve this result, and to my
mind, this is the obvious way of doing it.

I know it can be done with half a page of xsl:attribute stuff, but
whitespace keeps getting in the way if I format it, and my code looks
like crap if I don't.

Opinions all?

.dan.

--------------------------------------------------

XML:
----
<Button id="a_button" title="A Button Title" value="value for a button"
/>

<TextField id="a_TextField" title="A TextField Title" value="value for a
TextField" />

 |
 V

XHTML:
------

<input type="Button" id="a_button" title="A Button Title" value="value
for a button" />
	
<input type="Text" id="a_TextField" title="A TextField Title"
value="value for a TextField" />


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