> <xsl:value-of select="doc($extNode)/book-meta/book/@author"/>

>>is wrong you want

  >>><xsl:value-of select="$extNode/book-meta/book/@author"/>

Did tried this too David but no use. Are you all sure that I am using
correct syntax for defining document path

<xsl:variable name="extNode"
select="document('file:///C:/book-type/book_meta.xml')"/>

if yes then I might look for missing info in my stylesheet.


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