Computing string-value of nodesets

Hi,

I'd like to know the average string-length of a collection of nodes (in a
nodeset).

The problem is that string([nodeset]) will return the string value of the
first node in the nodeset, and not the concatenated string value of all the
nodes. I wonder why this decision was taken in the design process of XPath.

Being a XPath newbie, I had some hopes that sum() could be used in some way
for this purpose (computing "total string value" of a nodeset), but alas,
it's purely numerical.
So is there some way to construct a equivalent of sum(), but one that works
on string values of a nodeset?

Thanks in advance,
Taras


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