>is there anybody with experience in running java code from  a stylsheet?

The first thing you need to know is that calling external functions is an area that's very implementation-dependent; so it's impossible to answer your question without knowing what processor you are using.

But for the general principles that most of the Java XSLT processors follow, see Chapter 8 of my XSLT Programmers Reference 2nd edition, plus the product-specific appendices.

Mike Kay 

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