File: Data.xml <?xml version="1.0" standalone="yes"?> <poem author="jm" year="1667"> <verse>line 1</verse> <verse>line 2</verse> <verse>line 3</verse> <verse>line 4</verse> </poem> File: Transform.xslt <?xml version="1.0" standalone="yes"?> <xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version="1.0"> <xsl:output method="text" /> <xsl:template match="poem"> <xsl:if test="count(verse) < 3"> The poem has less than 3 verse child elements. </xsl:if> </xsl:template> </xsl:stylesheet>