saxon:array-member
Returns an external object intended for use as a member of a newly constructed array.
array-member($value as item()*) ➔ jt:com.saxonica.functions.extfn.ArrayMemberValue
Arguments | |||
| $value | item()* | The value to be used as an array member |
Result | jt:com.saxonica.functions.extfn.ArrayMemberValue |
Namespace
http://saxon.sf.net/
Notes on the Saxon implementation
Available since Saxon 9.8.
Details
This function can be used to assist in constructing arrays whose members are sequences rather than individual items.
For example, the expression array { (1 to $n) ! saxon:array-member(1 to $n)
}
(with $n = 4
) constructs the array array{1, (1, 2), (1, 2,
3), (1, 2, 3, 4)}
. Without this construct, there is no convenient way of
constructing an array where (a) the number of members is not known statically, and (b)
the members may be arbitrary sequences rather than single items.
The actual result of the function is an external object which is specially recognized
by the internal function array:_fromSequence
which underpins the XPath
curly array constructor array{a, b, c}
and also the extension instruction
saxon:array. If this
internal function recognizes an instance of
com.saxonica.functions.extfn.ArrayMemberValue
in its input sequence, then
instead of adding it to the array as a member directly, it unwraps it to obtain the
underlying sequence, and adds this sequence as the next member of the array.
See also the saxon:array-member extension instruction.