Remove empty nodes from XML using XSLT

Question

I am having trouble removing empty nodes from my XML using XSLT. For example, this area in the XSLT:

             <RCPNT_NM>
                <snm>
                    <xsl:value-of select="SNM"/>
                </snm>
                <gv_nm>
                    <xsl:value-of select="GVN_NM"/>
                </gv_nm>
                <init>
                    <xsl:value-of select="INIT"/>
                </init>
            </RCPNT_NM>

The data inside some of those nodes is completely empty, but I am still getting them back. I tried applying the match="node()|@*" template area to the xslt, but that didn;t work either. Here is the entire XSLT file:

<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:fn="http://www.w3.org/2005/xpath-functions" version="2.0">
<xsl:output encoding="UTF-8" indent="yes" method="xml" version="1.0"/>
<xsl:output indent="yes" omit-xml-declaration="yes"/>
<xsl:strip-space elements="*"/>
<xsl:template match="/">
    <Return>
        <xsl:apply-templates select="//IPERSON/item"/>
    </Return>
</xsl:template>
<xsl:template match="node()|@*">
    <xsl:copy>
        <xsl:apply-templates select="node()|@*"/>
    </xsl:copy>
</xsl:template>
<xsl:template match="*[not(@*) and not(*) and (not(text()) )]"/>
<xsl:template match="IPERSON/item">
    <T5018Slip>
        <RCPNT_NM>
            <snm>
                <xsl:value-of select="SNM"/>
            </snm>
            <gv_nm>
                <xsl:value-of select="GVN_NM"/>
            </gv_nm>
            <init>
                <xsl:value-of select="INIT"/>
            </init>
        </RCPNT_NM>
        <sin>
            <xsl:value-of select="SIN"/>
        </sin>
        <rcpnt_bn>
            <xsl:value-of select="RCPNT_BN"/>
        </rcpnt_bn>
        <CORP_PTNRP_NM>
            <l1_nm>
                <xsl:value-of select="CORPL1_NM"/>
            </l1_nm>
            <l2_nm>
                <xsl:value-of select="CORPL2_NM"/>
            </l2_nm>
        </CORP_PTNRP_NM>
        <rcpnt_tcd>
            <xsl:value-of select="RCPNT_TCD"/>
        </rcpnt_tcd>
        <RCPNT_ADDR>
            <addr_l1_txt>
                <xsl:value-of select="ADDR_L1_TXT"/>
            </addr_l1_txt>
            <addr_l2_txt>
                <xsl:value-of select="ADDR_L2_TXT"/>
            </addr_l2_txt>
            <cty_nm>
                <xsl:value-of select="CTY_NM"/>
            </cty_nm>
            <prov_cd>
                <xsl:value-of select="PROV_CD"/>
            </prov_cd>
            <cntry_cd>
                <xsl:value-of select="CNTRY_CD"/>
            </cntry_cd>
            <pstl_cd>
                <xsl:value-of select="PSTL_CD"/>
            </pstl_cd>
        </RCPNT_ADDR>
        <bn>
            <xsl:value-of select="BN"/>
        </bn>
        <sbctrcr_amt>
            <xsl:value-of select="SBCTRCR_AMT"/>
        </sbctrcr_amt>
        <rpt_tcd>
            <xsl:value-of select="RPT_TCD"/>
        </rpt_tcd>
    </T5018Slip>
    <xsl:for-each select="Return/T5018Summary/slp_cnt">
        <xsl:value-of select="SLP_CNT='1'"/>
        <xsl:if test="slp_cnt='1'">
            <T5018Summary>
                <bn>
                    <xsl:value-of select="BN1"/>
                </bn>
                <PAYR_NM>
                    <l1_nm>
                        <xsl:value-of select="L1_NM"/>
                    </l1_nm>
                    <l2_nm>
                        <xsl:value-of select="L2_NM"/>
                    </l2_nm>
                    <l3_nm>
                        <xsl:value-of select="L3_NM"/>
                    </l3_nm>
                </PAYR_NM>
                <PAYR_ADDR>
                    <addr_l1_txt>
                        <xsl:value-of select="PAYRADDR_L1_TXT"/>
                    </addr_l1_txt>
                    <addr_l2_txt>
                        <xsl:value-of select="PAYRADDR_L2_TXT"/>
                    </addr_l2_txt>
                    <cty_nm>
                        <xsl:value-of select="PAYRCTY_NM"/>
                    </cty_nm>
                    <prov_cd>
                        <xsl:value-of select="PAYRPROV_CD"/>
                    </prov_cd>
                    <cntry_cd>
                        <xsl:value-of select="PAYRCNTRY_CD"/>
                    </cntry_cd>
                    <pstl_cd>
                        <xsl:value-of select="PAYRPSTL_CD"/>
                    </pstl_cd>
                </PAYR_ADDR>
                <CNTC>
                    <cntc_nm>
                        <xsl:value-of select="CNTC_NM"/>
                    </cntc_nm>
                    <cntc_area_cd>
                        <xsl:value-of select="CNTC_AREA_CD"/>
                    </cntc_area_cd>
                    <cntc_phn_nbr>
                        <xsl:value-of select="CNTC_PHN_NBR"/>
                    </cntc_phn_nbr>
                    <cntc_extn_nbr>
                        <xsl:value-of select="CNTC_EXTN_NBR"/>
                    </cntc_extn_nbr>
                </CNTC>
                <PRD_END_DT>
                    <dy>
                        <xsl:value-of select="DY"/>
                    </dy>
                    <mo>
                        <xsl:value-of select="MO"/>
                    </mo>
                    <yr>
                        <xsl:value-of select="YR"/>
                    </yr>
                </PRD_END_DT>
                <slp_cnt>
                    <xsl:value-of select="SLP_CNT"/>
                </slp_cnt>
                <tot_sbctrcr_amt>
                    <xsl:value-of select="TOT_SBCTRCR_AMT"/>
                </tot_sbctrcr_amt>
                <rpt_tcd>
                    <xsl:value-of select="RPT_TCD"/>
                </rpt_tcd>
            </T5018Summary>
        </xsl:if>
    </xsl:for-each>
</xsl:template>

Answer 1

You can try the following XSLT.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
    <xsl:output omit-xml-declaration="yes" indent="yes" method="xml"/>

    <xsl:template match="*[not(child::node())]"/>

    <xsl:template match="@*|node()">
       <xsl:copy>
          <xsl:apply-templates />
       </xsl:copy>
    </xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

The first template will get rid of any node that is empty.

Second template, lets the other node copy as it is.