Charlie Consumer wrote:
> 
> and once I enter the template the parameter isn't a
> node set like it was before I called the template, but
> a node fragment.  I don't know what a node fragment
> is.  Can anyone explain this?

A result tree fragment (RTF) is what you get if you fill
a param or variable inside the element, instead of in its
select attribute. Like you did in call-template:

>  <xsl:with-param name="currentRule">
>    <xsl:value-of select="current()"/>
>  </xsl:with-param>

In XSLT 1.0, you can't use an RTF in XPath expressions.
You would have to use an extension, eg. from from EXSLT
(www.exslt.org):

<xsl:value-of select="exsl:node-set($currentRule)/blah/@id"/>
<!-- you can't: <xsl:value-of select="$currentRule/blah/@id"/> -->

HTH,
Anton