Report Output in PDF using htmldb_example.xslt yields blank page; commas

Question

I am able to generate a PDF file from a given region using FOP (Formatting Objects Processor). The file that is produced in the Adobe reader produces a nice report with a header and footer region. However, there is always a blank page (containing the header and footer information only). Also, the report produced contains mixed data (text, dates MM-MON-RR and numbers (1.00 3.00 named Hours and Days) and totals. For certain reports, the total lines for the 2 number columns could get into the thousands (1,996.54 284.52). When the comma in the number is introduced, the total row will no longer align with the detail rows.
I know that htmldb_example.xslt is only an example, but has anybody experienced this behavior?
Of note, the example file "hr_employees.pdf" that is downloaded from Oracle also has a blank page.

Answer 1

Code changed in htmldb_example.xslt to fix comma/number format and extra page:
<!--Some FOP processers require a block element within a table cell to render correctly-->
<fo:block font-size="8pt">
<xsl:choose>
<xsl:when test=".=translate(.,translate(.,'0123456789+-,.',''),'')">
<xsl:attribute name="text-align">end</xsl:attribute>
</xsl:when>
<xsl:when test="string(number(.))='NaN'">
<xsl:attribute name="text-align">start</xsl:attribute>
</xsl:when>
<xsl:otherwise>
<xsl:attribute name="text-align">end</xsl:attribute>
</xsl:otherwise>
</xsl:choose>
<xsl:value-of select="."/>
</fo:block
Page break code, before:
<fo:table break-after="page" font-family="Helvetica">
after, (no extra page):
<fo:table font-family="Helvetica">
<!--break-after="page" causes page break after the report ends-->