Then I am curious
> my suggestion with
>
> <xsl:sequence select="$record ! (Customer_or_Area_Code, Cycle_Date,
Sequence_Number) ! f:convert(.)b/>
>
> will produce the same result (order) while any use of / will sort the
elements in document order.
do the following expressions with / produce the same results? (notice I
changed the order in the ()
	 <xsl:sequence select="$record / (Customer_or_Area_Code, Cycle_Date,
Sequence_Number) / f:convert(.)b/>

 	<xsl:sequence select="$record / (Cycle_Date, Customer_or_Area_Code,
Sequence_Number) / f:convert(.)"/>