It's always useful to use the -TJ option when debugging this kind of
problem.

I think your problem is that you used the -jar option on the command line.
This causes the classpath to be ignored. You need to use the

java -cp ... net.sf.saxon.Transform

way of invoking the transformation.

I'm afraid this is an elephant trap that many people fall into. However
prominently I put the warnings in the documentation, they still fall in.

Incidentally, questions about specific XSLT products are best asked on a
product specific list. For Saxon that's the saxon-help list which you can
find via the saxon project on SourceForge.

Regards,

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

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Blaine McNutt (rbmcnutt) [mailto:rbmcnutt@xxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: 23 June 2009 20:20
> To: xsl-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject:  Calling a Java extension from XSLT using Saxon B
>
> I am not a Java programmer, but I would like to use an
> extension to check for the existence of an image file
> referenced by an XML file (as I believe that is the only way
> to check for the existence of a non-XML file). This topic has
> been discussed a lot on various aliases, and despite my best
> efforts, I'm unable to unravel the mystery. 
>
> I've included what I believe to be relevant information.
>
> Error Message:
> --------------
> Error at xsl:value-of on line 15 column 48 of
> nxs-test-image-exists.xsl:
>   XPST0017: XPath syntax error at char 20 on line 15 in
> {nxs:fileExist(@osrc)}:
>     Cannot find a matching 1-argument function named
> {java:FileExist}fileExist() Failed to compile stylesheet. 1
> error detected.
>
> Saxon-B 9.1.7 J stored in xmlsrc/xTools/saxon9.
> -----------------------------------------------
>
> Java program (compiled and the FileExist.class file stored in
> xmlsrc/xTools/saxon9/classes)
>
> /* Source:
> http://p2p.wrox.com/xslt/71563-xslt-check-if-directory-exist.html */
>
> import java.io.File;
>
> public class FileExist {
>
>     private static boolean exist;
>
>     public static boolean fileExist(String myfile) {
>
>         exist = new File(myfile).exists();
>
>         return exist;
>
>     }
> }
>
> XML Snippet for img element
> ---------------------------
>
> ...
> <img osrc="../../images/1982.jpg" />
>
> ...
>
> XSLT
> ------
>
> <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
>
> <xsl:stylesheet version="2.0"
>                 xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
>                 xmlns:nxs="java:FileExist">
>
> <xsl:output method="xml"/>
>
> <xsl:template match="/">
>                 <xsl:apply-templates /> </xsl:template>
>
> <xsl:template match="img">
>                 <xsl:value-of select="nxs:fileExist(@osrc)"
> /> </xsl:template>
>     
> </xsl:stylesheet>
>
> Korn Shell script/command line call:
> ------------------------------------
>
> # define saxon command line
> saxon="java -classpath xTools/saxon9/classes; -jar -Xmx1G
> xTools/saxon9/saxon9.jar -tree:tiny -dtd:off -ext:on "
> # call transform
> $saxon deliverables/help/helpFile.xml  
> xslt/nxs-test-image-exists.xsl > imageerror.xml
>
>
> Thank you for any insights you might offer.
>
> Blaine