Referencing fields at multiple repeating group levels (XSL/XPATH for BI Publisher)

Problem

You want to create a spreadsheet with a each record referencing fields from different groups.

Creating the fields and repeating groups in the normal way prevents the upper level fields from repeating.This is what publisher will suggest.

No matter how you combine the fields, the upper fields will not be repeated, or will not display at all.

Solution

Next your repeating groups from the upper level that you need, to the lower level that you need.

Reference fields at the upper level using the following syntax.

<?../../../../CUST_NAME_INV?>

In the above example I am asking it to reference a field that is four levels. up. There are other ways to play with this functionality using the xpath method, see acknowledgements.

You could use <?//CUST_NAME_INV?> which would reference it anywhere. It might slow performance down, so leave this as a last resort if you can't figure out the right number of "../"

Note how the upper level fields now repeat.

Acknowledgement

http://bipconsulting.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/xslxpath-for-bi-publisher.html