>      <xsl:for-each select="tr/td/a[starts-with(tr/td/a,$string)]">


Since you are in a filter pattern when you use the starts-with() method, you
do not need to navigate the tree anymore:

<xsl:for-each select="tr/td/a[starts-with(.,$string)]">



Ben


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