It is preferable to have a result that is of the same type as the argument.
This avoids the (possibly costly) conversion to xs:integer which may have
implementation dependent limitations and loss of precision.

Should a certain quality of a number automatically imply a certain
datatype? Not all "humans" would concur, I think.

Wolfgang



On 14 September 2017 at 12:30, Birnbaum, David J djbpitt@xxxxxxxx <
xsl-list-service@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Dear XSL List,
>
> I was surprised to learn today that ceiling() and floor() do not obligatorily
> return a value of type xs:integer. If I've understood correctly that they
> necessarily return a value that a human would consider an integer, is
> there a reason that other return types are permitted?
>
> Thanks,
>
> David