<xsl:template match="node()">
...
</xsl:template>

<a>
  <b/>
</a>

regards,
Garvin

1. For any template rule T to be fired, two conditions must apply:

(a) someone has to call apply-templates selecting a particular node N

(b) Node N has to match the match pattern for rule T.

2. The pattern match="node()" is short for match="child::node()". So it
doesn't match all nodes, it only matches nodes that are children of some
parent. That is, it matches elements, text nodes, comments, and processing
instructions, but not attributes, document (=root) nodes, or namespaces.