compares sorted and unsorted xsl:for-each element : for each « XSLT stylesheet « XML Tutorial

File: Data.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<data>
    <AAA>
      <BBB>
        <CCC>A</CCC>
      </BBB>
      <BBB/>
      <BBB/>
    </AAA>
    <AAA>
      <BBB/>
      <BBB>
        <CCC>B</CCC>
        <CCC>C</CCC>
        <CCC>D</CCC>
        <CCC>E</CCC>
      </BBB>
    </AAA>
</data>
File: Transform.xslt

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet
      version="1.0"
      xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
    <xsl:template match="/">
      <TABLE border="1">
        <TR>
          <td>Position</TH>
          <td>Last</TH>
          <td>Name</TH>
        </TR>
        <xsl:for-each select="//AAA[last()]//CCC">
          <TR>
            <TD>
              <xsl:value-of select="position()"/>
            </TD>
            <TD>
              <xsl:value-of select="last()"/>
            </TD>
            <TD>
              <xsl:value-of select="text()"/>
            </TD>
          </TR>
        </xsl:for-each>
      </TABLE>
      <TABLE border="1">
        <TR>
          <td>Position</TH>
          <td>Last</TH>
          <td>Name</TH>
        </TR>
        <xsl:for-each select="//AAA[last()]//CCC">
          <xsl:sort order="ascending" select="text()"/>
          <TR>
            <TD>
              <xsl:value-of select="position()"/>
            </TD>
            <TD>
              <xsl:value-of select="last()"/>
            </TD>
            <TD>
              <xsl:value-of select="text()"/>
            </TD>
          </TR>
        </xsl:for-each>
      </TABLE>
    </xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

Output:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><TABLE border="1"><TR><td>Position</TH><td>Last</TH><td>Name</TH></TR><TR><TD>1</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>B</TD></TR><TR><TD>2</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>C</TD></TR><TR><TD>3</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>D</TD></TR><TR><TD>4</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>E</TD></TR></TABLE><TABLE border="1"><TR><td>Position</TH><td>Last</TH><td>Name</TH></TR><TR><TD>1</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>E</TD></TR><TR><TD>2</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>C</TD></TR><TR><TD>3</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>B</TD></TR><TR><TD>4</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>D</TD></TR></TABLE>

5.45.for each
	5.45.1.	The xsl:for-each element allows all nodes in a node-set to be processed according to the XSLT instructions nested inside the xsl:for-each element.
	5.45.2.	Nested for-each loop with sorting
	5.45.3.	Output xml elements in for-each loop
	5.45.4.	for-each select=preceding-sibling::address[zip=./zip]
	5.45.5.	for-each select=//address[generate-id(.)=generate-id(key(zipcodes, zip)[1])]
	5.45.6.	Use for-each loop to output list items
	5.45.7.	for-each select="addressbook/address" and sort
	5.45.8.	compares sorted and unsorted xsl:for-each element
	5.45.9.	xsl:for-each instruction contains a template, which is applied to each node selected with select attribute.