>>Yes but only you know if that is where the file is.

>>Do
>><xsl:message select="'extNode: ',$extNode"/>

>>and see if it outputs anything you should see the full file contents.

Yeah I can see the its shows full content of XML file. Then why I am
able to print values using:

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

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

I think I am having one of those days. :-(

Pankaj