> ...but oddly, if I use copy-of, it appears to treat the result tree 
> fragment as a node set without the need for exsl:node-set, because it 
> ends up applying templates to the subelement content rather than 
> passing it unchanged as I would have expected with copy-of. In other
> words, subelements in $content do get transformed correctly. Strange.

do you mean you've gone

<xsl:variable name="foo">
  <xsl:copy-of select="khhlh"/>
</xsl:variable>
<xsl:apply-templates select="$foo"/a/b"/>

and it worked rather than generate an error?
If so, you either have a buggy processor or a processor implementing the 
orphaned xslt 1.1 draft (eg saxon 6) or the new xslt2 draft (eg saxon 7)

David

________________________________________________________________________
This e-mail has been scanned for all viruses by Star Internet. The
service is powered by MessageLabs. For more information on a proactive
anti-virus service working around the clock, around the globe, visit:
http://www.star.net.uk
________________________________________________________________________

 XSL-List info and archive:  http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list