This is a FAQ. The select attribute of xsl:sort takes an XPath expression
that evaluates to the sort key, not an XPath expression that evalauates to a
string containing another XPath expression that evaluates to the sort key.

You can sometimes achieve what you want using select="*[name()=$sortkey]",
if you want something more general, Saxon has the saxon:evaluate()
extension.

Mike Kay

>
> 
> we are trying to make the sort statement in our XSL generic 
> 


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