[xsl] [XPath 3.0] Can anonymous functions return markup?

Subject: [xsl] [XPath 3.0] Can anonymous functions return markup?
From: "Costello, Roger L." <costello@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2012 22:07:25 +0000
Hi Folks,

I want to create an anonymous XPath function that returns markup. For
example:

         let $print := function ()
                              {
                                  <hello>World</hello>
                              }
         return ($print())

I tried embedding that XPath within an xsl:sequence element:

      <xsl:sequence select="
         let $print := function ()
                              {
                                  <hello>World</hello>
                              }
         return ($print())
         " />

but that produced this error message:

    The value of attribute "select" associated with an element
    type "xsl:sequence" must not contain the '<' character.

So I escaped the '<' characters:

      <xsl:sequence select="
         let $print := function ()
                              {
                                  &lt;hello>World&lt;/hello>
                              }
         return ($print())
         " />

and that produced this error message:

    Unexpected token "<" in path expression

Is it possible to create an anonymous function that returns markup?

If yes, how?

/Roger

Current Thread