>>     <xsl:for-each select="table">
>>       <xsl:sort select="." />
>
>there is only one table  so xsl:sort is doing nothing

Right, the full XML used as input has many, I neglected to mention
that I abbreviated.

> That could more simply be written
>
> <xsl:variable name="columns" select="column/string(@name)"/>

Nice, I never knew that, appreciate the pointer.

> >
> >       <xsl:for-each select="$columns">
> >         <xsl:variable name="foo"
select="$this/constraint[@type='FOREIGN']/childKey[@name='.']" />
>
> childKey[@name='.']"
>
> selects childKey elements that have string value of their content
> equal to their name attribute.
> You presumably meant current() not .

Ok, so if that selector looks for the childKey elements whose string value
matches which
is not what I want, it is the childKey element (there is only one) whose @name
matches
the for-each's current value, I am not clear on how to leverage current() to
facilliatte that?

Thanks for all the patience guys,
jlc