RE: grouping by unique...

[I wrote]
> I think what you really want to do is apply templates
> to <solution>s instead of <item>s, and modify your select=
> like this:
> 
>     <xsl:if test="generate-id(..) = 
> generate-id(key('solution-key', .)[1])">

P.S.
Since you're looking at a "large amount of nodes", I wouldn't
use apply-templates at all; just combine the select and the
if test into a for-each:

  <xsl:template match="report">
    <!-- using Muenchian technique to display a list of unique solutions -->
    <xsl:for-each select="item/metadata/solution[generate-id(..) =
                          generate-id(key('solution-key', .)[1])]">
      <xsl:sort select="." />
      <xsl:value-of select="." />
    </xsl:for-each>       
  </xsl:template>
  
That might make things faster.

Lars


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