assigning <xsl:param> to <xsl:template mode="$">???

Hi,

is there a way to assign a param's value from 
a call to the XSL stylesheet to the mode
selector of a template?

I'd like to do the following:

<xsl:param name="format"/>
<xsl:template match="/">
<xsl:apply-templates mode="$format"/>
</xsl:template>

It does not seem to work, although I expect
my assignment to be correct, as I do not receive
any output at all. Is this ilelgal use of param 
value?

Regards, Aren

 XSL-List info and archive:  http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list