[xsl] Working with Collections

["Craig Branham" <ccbranham@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear List:

I have a set of large input files (all with the same structure) to process 
with collection() and an external collection file that shows which input 
files to process, and in what order, to a single output file.

Is there a way to join all these documents below the top level element and 
process their contents as though they were a single input file?

A <xsl:for-each/> approach processes each document in the collection in 
turn, which I don't want (I need to be able to traverse the entire 
collection):

<xsl:template match="/">
   <mytop>
       <xsl:for-each select="collection('collection.xml')">
           <xsl:apply-templates select="yourtop/yourcontent"/>
       </xsl:for-each>
   </mytop>
</xsl:template>

I could also abandon using collections and use:

     <xsl:apply-templates
select="...|document('x')/...|document('y')/..."/>

but I would rather have a separate collection file for extensibility and 
flexibility if possible.

I've tried creating a temporary tree, but have run into memory problems 
doing this that I'd rather not deal with.

Does anyone have any advice?

Many Thanks,

Craig B.