I haven't been following this thread all that closely but the select
attribute of xsl:number means it's no longer constrained to work on the
context node.

<xsl:function name="bib:footcite" as="xs:string">
    <xsl:param name="footciteable" as="element()"/>
    <xsl:number level="any" select="$footciteable"
       count="db:footnote|db:citation[not(ancestor::db:footnote)]"/>
</xsl:function>

Cheers,
Wendell

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Wendell Piez                            mailto:wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mulberry Technologies, Inc.                http://www.mulberrytech.com
17 West Jefferson Street                    Direct Phone: 301/315-9635
Suite 207                                          Phone: 301/315-9631
Rockville, MD  20850                                 Fax: 301/315-8285
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