exsl:node-set() returns a node-set from a result tree fragment, which is what you get when you look at the xsl:variable instead of its select attribute to fetch a variable's value. This lets you process the XML created within a variable to process it in multiple steps.
You can also use exsl:node-set() to turn strings into text nodes.
Syntax
exsl:node-set(object)
Arguments
object- The object for which to return the corresponding node-set.
Returns
The node-set corresponding to the specified object.
Defined
Gecko support
Supported in Gecko 1.9 and later.