xsl:variable question

Hi.  I am new to XML and XSL so please forgive my ignorance.
I have tried to figure this out from the w3 spec and other
resources, but mainly from trial and error (mostly error),
and I am still in the dark.

<!-- what I want to do -->
 Basically, I am using LotusXSL to generate an HTML file from
 my XML data. What I want to do is access a value that is obtained
 from one "leaf" of my XML tree at multiple points in my XSLT
 transformation.  I am able to do this via hardcoding the xpath
 to the specific node, ie:
   <xsl:value-of select="//MYROOT/BRANCH1/MYLEAF"/>
 However, I thought it might be better to set a variable
 (that I hoped would be global).  I have a called named template
 that is generating a small table that is a simulation of a page
 header.  I have nested tables, each "outer" table comprising a
 printable page, and the "page header" inner table sits in the
 first row of each outer table.
<!-- /what I want to do -->

<!-- aside -->
 Eventually I will probably want to learn about FO (FOP?) and generate
 PDF (or some kind of printable document) but at this stage I am using
 HTML as my printable object. Can XSLT and FO be combined within the
 same XSL stylesheet, or are they mutually exclusive?
<!-- /aside -->

<!-- The error I am getting -->
 "VariableReference given for variable out of context or without
  definition!  Name = BusinessPartnerContract"
<!-- /The error I am getting -->

<!-- My variable definition -->
<!-- note: hardcoded here but I want to set based on XML data -->
<!--       contained within a child of "MYROOT"               -->
  <xsl:template match="MYROOT">
    <xsl:variable name="BusinessPartnerContract">
     This is a business partner contract.
    </xsl:variable>
  ...
  </xsl:template>
<!-- /My variable definition -->

<!-- Fragment with call to named template -->
<!-- note: this fragment occurs for each "page" I want to generate -->
      <tr> <!-- outer -->
        <td colspan="2"> <!-- outer -->
          <xsl:call-template name="pageHeader"/>
        </td> <!-- outer -->
      </tr> <!-- outer -->
<!-- /Fragment with call to named template -->


<!-- Fragment of my called template -->
 <xsl:template name="pageHeader">
   <table cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" border="0" cols="2">
     <tr>
       <td colspan="2" align="center" class="bigBold">
         Page Title Goes Here
       </td>
     </tr>
     <xsl:if test="boolean($BusinessPartnerContract)">
       <tr>
         <td colspan="2" align="center">
           <u><xsl:value-of select="$BusinessPartnerContract"/></u>
         </td>
       </tr>
     </xsl:if>
     ... some more stuff goes here ...
   </table>
 </xsl:template>
<!-- /Fragment of my called template -->

If I set my variable within the called template, it works. So
it seems my problem is the scope of the variable.
I thought my variable would be global if I set it within the first
template (match="MYROOT"), but I end up with a null value, ie:
" <u><xsl:value-of select="$BusinessPartnerContract"/></u>"
becomes
 "<u></u>"

TIA for any help.

Nick Ridout



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