Re: XPath question

you may prefer to to just generate your 1.2.3 number directly using
<xsl:number/>
but to answer the question

> I have struggled in vain today to come up with an XPath expression
> which would tell me how many elements are on the preceding-sibling axis
> of the parent of a given node. 

count(../preceding-sibling::*)

if by given node you mean current node,
if $x is the given node then:
count($x/../preceding-sibling::*)


David

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