> if he just did what you suggested wouldn't
> he just grab every 1 in 5 customers 

yes but I was just answering the question as posted

> . I am certain I will have to change 
> the apply-templates as well but I have not even gotten to 
> that point yet.

t
Having started a new file for every fith element you pick the rest up
with 
select=".|following::customer[position() < 5]"

the above is of course all valid for xsl 1 or 2, or in xslt2 you could
se for-each group, as you said

David

________________________________________________________________________
The Numerical Algorithms Group Ltd is a company registered in England
and Wales with company number 1249803. The registered office is:
Wilkinson House, Jordan Hill Road, Oxford OX2 8DR, United Kingdom.

This e-mail has been scanned for all viruses by Star. The service is
powered by MessageLabs. 
________________________________________________________________________