xsl:fo retrieve-marker not valid child

Question

I need for my xsl:fo transformation an <fo:retrieve-marker> in an table but I don't know if this is possible because I use FOP Processor for my transformation.

If i use the <fo:retrieve-marker> in my table I always get an error message that the tag has to be in an static content.

Here is the table with the marker

                <xsl:call-template name="MMEL-Table-Header"/>

                <!-- Bottom table Line  -->
                <fo:table-footer>
                    <fo:table-row>
                        <fo:table-cell>                                                                             
                            <fo:marker marker-class-name="footer-continued"> <fo:inline>(continued)</fo:inline></fo:marker>
                        </fo:table-cell>
                    </fo:table-row>

                </fo:table-footer>

                <fo:table-body >               

                    <xsl:variable name="identification">
                        <xsl:value-of select="ident/message"/>                                 
                    </xsl:variable>                       
                    <xsl:apply-templates select="ident"><xsl:with-param name="ident" select="$identification"/></xsl:apply-templates>
                    <xsl:apply-templates select="provisos/proviso"><xsl:with-param name="ident" select="$identification"/></xsl:apply-templates>

                <fo:table-row>
                    <fo:table-cell> <fo:retrieve-marker retrieve-position="first-starting-within-page" retrieve-class-name="footer-continued" retrieve-boundary="document" /> </fo:table-cell>
                </fo:table-row>
                </fo:table-body>           
            </fo:table>          

Answer 1

(disclosure: I'm a FOP developer)

This example has dynamic table header and table footer, so it should cover your requirements:

• if the table fits in a single page, both table header and table footer are empty
• if the table is split over several pages
  • the table header is empty for the first page, and in the following ones it says "(continued)"
  • the table footer is empty for the last page, and in the previous ones it says "(continues on the next page)"
• tested with FOP 2.0 (older versions did not support table markers); due to FOP's current limitations, the non-breaking space   in the table header and table footer is a necessary "placeholder" (the header / footer dimensions are computed just once, without marker content)
• no formatter-specific extensions, so this could work with other formatters too (XslFormatter supports table markers; XEP has alternative workarounds)

FO fragment:

  <fo:table table-layout="fixed" width="100%">
    <fo:table-column column-width="100%"/>
    <fo:table-header>
      <fo:table-row>
        <fo:table-cell>
          <fo:block>
            <fo:retrieve-table-marker retrieve-class-name="mc1" 
                retrieve-position-within-table="first-starting" 
                retrieve-boundary-within-table="table-fragment"/>
            &#x00A0;
          </fo:block>
        </fo:table-cell>
      </fo:table-row>
    </fo:table-header>
    <fo:table-footer>
      <fo:table-row>
        <fo:table-cell>
          <fo:block>
            <fo:retrieve-table-marker retrieve-class-name="mc2" 
                retrieve-position-within-table="last-ending" 
                retrieve-boundary-within-table="table-fragment"/>
            &#x00A0;
          </fo:block>
        </fo:table-cell>
      </fo:table-row>
    </fo:table-footer>
    <fo:table-body>
      <!-- first row -->
      <fo:table-row>
        <fo:table-cell>
          <fo:block>
            <fo:marker marker-class-name="mc1"></fo:marker>
            <fo:marker marker-class-name="mc2">(continues on the next page)</fo:marker>
            cell1
          </fo:block>
        </fo:table-cell>
      </fo:table-row>
      <!-- middle row -->
      <fo:table-row>
        <fo:table-cell>
          <fo:block>
            <fo:marker marker-class-name="mc1">(continued)</fo:marker>
            <fo:marker marker-class-name="mc2">(continues on the next page)</fo:marker>
            cell2
          </fo:block>
        </fo:table-cell>
      </fo:table-row>
      <!-- ... other similar rows ... -->
      <!-- last row -->
      <fo:table-row>
        <fo:table-cell>
          <fo:block>
            <fo:marker marker-class-name="mc1">(continued)</fo:marker>
            <fo:marker marker-class-name="mc2"></fo:marker>
            cell9
          </fo:block>
        </fo:table-cell>
      </fo:table-row>
    </fo:table-body>
  </fo:table>