# xsl:fallback

The `xsl:fallback` element is used to define recovery action to be taken when an instruction element is used in the stylesheet and no implementation of that element is available. An element is an instruction element if its namespace URI is the standard URI for XSLT elements or if its namespace is identified in the `xsl:extension-element-prefixes` attribute of a containing literal result element, or in the `extension-element-prefixes` attribute of the `xsl:stylesheet` element.

If the `xsl:fallback` element appears in any other context, it is ignored, together with all its child and descendant elements.

There are no attributes.

If the parent element can be instantiated and processed, the `xsl:fallback` element and its descendants are ignored. If the parent element is not recognised of if any failure occurs instantiating it, all its xsl:fallback children are processed in turn. If there are no xsl:fallback children, an error is reported.

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