RE: casting string as integer or double

> I'm using Saxon 8, and get the following error msg:
> Fatal Error! An empty sequence is not allowed as the value in 
> 'cast as' expression
> 
> I know that the value is not empty but a whole number.

Note that the two expressions

(a) $x cast as xs:integer
       
(b) xs:integer($x)

are almost synonyms, except that if $x is an empty sequence, (a) will fail
with the error message you reported, while (b) will succeed, returning an
empty sequence.

If the Saxon message says that the value is an empty sequence and you think
it isn't, then you'll need to provide some evidence for your belief.

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