> > <xsl:template match="e">
> >   <xsl:analyze-string select="." regex="^\s*.*?\s*$">
> 
> I think that needs to be
>     <xsl:analyze-string select="." regex="^(\s*)(.+?)(\s*)$"> 
> as the posted regular expression lacks parentheses to allow 
> the later use of regex-group and as the posted regular 
> expression matches the empty string which is not allowed.

Quite right, thanks.

Michael Kay
http://www.saxonica.com/