> I just tried out your solution but <xsl:value-of select="@ref/> doesnt 
> return any value.


sorry ignore my last reply.

You made the mistake of doing what I said, not what I meant.

<xsl:when test="$x"/>
  ref: <xsl:value-of select="$x/@ref/> 
 text: <xsl:value-of select="$x"/>
</xsl:when>


or, if you are not doing anything in other branches of the xsl:choose
you don't need a variable or xsl:when at all and just do


<xsl:for-each
  select="MainClass/SubClass/Value[contains(.,'ParentValue')]">
  ref: <xsl:value-of select="@ref/> 
 text: <xsl:value-of select="."/>
</xsl:for-each>

David

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