Michael,

i tried that one, but in another xsl we do not have that as an attribute but we do have as below

<xyz m:id="_m32">
    <xsl:value-of select="a.zip/c.zip"/>
</xyz>

here 'm' is namespace.

this also gives the output with namespace value. do you have any idea how to get rid of these with newer versions of xerces & xalan

In the previous example you were outputting an attribute m:contextKey that caused the m namespace to be declared.

In this example you are outputting an attribute m:id that causes exactly the same effect, and the remedy is exactly the same.

I'm sorry I'm having so little success in explaining this to you.

Michael Kay
http://www.saxonica.com/
Author, XSLT Programmer's Reference and XPath 2.0 Programmer's Reference

Thank Michael,

I was considering these 2 in a different manner. But you are correct that both are attributes only. And thanks much for your help.