tokenize() a string and then create a node-set

Haven't used the tokenize() function and just wanted a bit of insight.

Note, could create a called-template plus a user defined function(s) to do the
following but want to see if there is an easier/other way to do it.

I want to take a string containing a person's name and break it apart based on a
space. Then parse the result as follows. If position is first then <firstname>,
if position is last then <lastname> else <midname>.

Can this be done using a <for-each select="tokenize($string, ' ')"> with a
<choose>|<if> statement inside?

Any ideas will be greatly appreciated.

Marijan Madunic