> I need to see if an element has children that contain data....

didn't we just do this?
If data is defined to be elements then
<xsl:if test="*/*"

if data is defined to be any kind of node including text or comments

<xsl:if test="*/node()"

if data is defined to be non zero string value

<xsl:if test="*[. != '']"

David

_____________________________________________________________________
This message has been checked for all known viruses by Star Internet
delivered through the MessageLabs Virus Scanning Service. For further
information visit http://www.star.net.uk/stats.asp or alternatively call
Star Internet for details on the Virus Scanning Service.

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