[xsl] xsl:sequence

["tom tom" <tomxsllist@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Apologies for these seemingly random questions but I have read numerous 
resources and am still struggling to understand why xsl:sequence is so 
important.

1. What is meant when the XSLT 2 spec states:

xsl:sequence can return a sequence containing existing nodes, rather than 
constructing new nodes.

<xsl:sequence select="." /> is constructing new nodes in the output that is, 
in effect, a copy-of the context node. Is this particular construct not a 
good example of what the XSLT 2 spec above is referring to?


2. I also understand sequence allows you to construct a sequence of 
different datatypes in one expression,

What, then, is the point of the concat function in XSLT 2? ie could

<xsl:sequence select="concat(meta/brand/text(), ' | ', genre/text())"/>

be rewritten:

<xsl:sequence select="meta/brand/text(), ' | ', genre/text()"/>

??

3. The XSLT 2 spec provides the following example code:

<xsl:variable name="prices" as="xs:decimal*">
           <xsl:for-each select="//product">
               <xsl:choose>
                   <xsl:when test="@price">
                       <xsl:sequence select="@price"/>
                   </xsl:when>
                   <xsl:otherwise>
                       <xsl:sequence select="@cost * 1.5"/>
                   </xsl:otherwise>
               </xsl:choose>
           </xsl:for-each>
       </xsl:variable>
       <xsl:value-of select="avg($prices)"/>

Does <xsl:sequence select="@price"/> not assign an attribute node to the 
variable $prices? If so surely this is wasteful?

Thanks in advance

Tom

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