> Thanks Michael, that worked! Could you elaborate a bit on how 
> this rule is working?

(a) following-sibling::*       all the following siblings
(b) [self::Mname|self::Lname]  all the following siblings whose name is
Mname or Lname
(c) [1]                        the first node in (b)
(d) [self::Mname]              the node selected by (c) if it is named
Mname, or nothing if it isn't

Michael Kay
http://www.saxonica.com/

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Chad Chelius [mailto:cchelius@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] 
> Sent: 16 August 2006 14:30
> To: xsl-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re:  value-of select problem
> 
> 
> 
> On Aug 15, 2006, at 6:54 PM, Michael Kay wrote:
> 
> > It's similar to another thread today called "Wrapping Problem" - 
> > usually called positional grouping.
> >
> > Try following-sibling::*[self::Mname|self::Lname][1][self::Mname]
> >
> > That's the first following sibling that's an Mname or an Lname, 
> > provided it's an Mname.
> >
> > Michael Kay
> > http://www.saxonica.com/
> >
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: cchelius@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:cchelius@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> >> Sent: 15 August 2006 22:35
> >> To: xsl-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >> Subject:  value-of select problem
> >>
> >> I have included a snippet from my xslt that I am having 
> difficulties 
> >> with.
> >> My source XML can contain several authors names but those 
> names don't 
> >> have to contain a middle name. The problem with my xslt is 
> that when 
> >> an author doesn't contain a middle name it will pull the 
> middle name 
> >> from the next author after it.
> >> Obviously this is no good as it creates a name that is 
> incorrect. I'm 
> >> not sure how to tell the xslt that if there is no middle 
> name not to 
> >> grab <authorMname from the next author.
> >> Any ideas?
> >>
> >> XML Code Sample:
> >>
> >> <author><authorFname>John</authorFname>
> >>             <authorLname>Dai</authorLname>, 
> >> <authorDegree>MD</authorDegree>;
> >>
> >> <authorFname>Jane</authorFname><authorMname>Austin</authorMnam
> >> e><authorLname>Smith</authorLname></author>
> >>
> >>
> >> XSLT Sample:
> >>
> >>   <xsl:for-each select="Story/author/authorFname">
> >>                         <!-- Adjusted to allow for 
> multiple authors 
> >> -->
> >>                         <Author>
> >>                             <FirstName>
> >>                                 <xsl:value-of select="."/>
> >>                             </FirstName>
> >>                             <MiddleName>
> >>                                 <xsl:value-of 
> >> select="following-sibling::authorMname[1]"/>
> >>                             </MiddleName>
> >>                             <LastName>
> >>                                 <xsl:value-of 
> >> select="following-sibling::authorLname[1]"/>
> >>                             </LastName>
> >>                             <Suffix>
> >>                                 <xsl:value-of 
> >> select="following-sibling::authorSuffix[1]"/>
> >>                             </Suffix>
> >>                             <Affiliation>
> >>                                 <xsl:value-of 
> >> select="following-sibling::authorAffiliation[1]"/>
> >>                             </Affiliation>
> >>                         </Author>
> >>                     </xsl:for-each>