[xsl] document() and node-list vs. tree fragment

[Michael Case <mecase@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello, 

I tried to understand the w3c docs about copy-of and I see no reason why this
should not work.  Any help?

On Linux Xalan C++ v 1.1 I can use

  <xsl:variable name="f2">
    <xsl:copy-of select="document('testfile2.xml')"/>
  </xsl:variable>

and later

    <xsl:apply-templates select="$f2"/>

to merge xml files or extract-merge from a series of files.

BUT xalan-j_2_2_D10 on DOS  and Xalan C++ v 1.2.0 both reject it.

(Location of error unknown)XSLT Error (org.apache.xpath.XPathException): Can not
convert #RTREEFRAG to a NodeList!

Does "Can not convert..." indicate a rule or indicate a failure in the xalan-j
implemenation? In other words, does xsl or xpath document() return a fragment or
a nodelist, and did this decision just kill my script?

Thanks in advance.

Michael Case

 XSL-List info and archive:  http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list