Create Empty element using XSLT 1.0 - xslt-1.0

Question

I am unable to figure it out how to build below XML using XSLT 1.0
<values>
<field name="abc"></field>
<field name="nch"></field>
</values>
there should not be any space between elements start and end tag.
Kindly help me as soon as possible.
Thanks.

Answer 1

In Saxon you have to change the output method to "html".
Example:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:output method="html" indent="yes"/>
<xsl:template match="/">
<values>
<field name="abc"></field>
<field name="nch"></field>
</values>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>
Here´s a workearound that works for vs2010.
Example 1:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:output method="xml" indent="yes"/>
<xsl:template match="/">
<values>
<field name="abc">
<xsl:value-of select="substring-before(' ',' ')"/>
</field>
<field name="nch">
<xsl:value-of select="substring-before(' ',' ')"/>
</field>
</values>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>
Example 2:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:output method="xml" indent="yes"/>
<xsl:template match="/">
<xsl:element name="values">
<xsl:element name="filed">
<xsl:attribute name="name">abc</xsl:attribute>
<xsl:value-of select="substring-before(' ',' ')"/>
</xsl:element>
<xsl:element name="filed">
<xsl:attribute name="name">nch</xsl:attribute>
<xsl:value-of select="substring-before(' ',' ')"/>
</xsl:element>
</xsl:element>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>
Output:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<values>
<filed name="abc"></filed>
<filed name="nch"></filed>
</values>

Answer 2

The difference between <x></x> and <x/> is purely lexical and generally cannot be controlled by the XSLT processor, because the final output is performed by the Serializer.
With some XSLT processors (using their built-in serializers), it may be possible to output the full form of an empty element. However, with other processors, such as Saxon, this isn't (easily) possible.