Steve W wrote:

> <DATA>
>     <ROWS>
>         <ROW>
>             <FIELD ID='1'>
>                 <VALUE>Z</VALUE>
>             </FIELD>
>             <FIELD ID='2'>
>                 <VALUE>B</VALUE>
>             </FIELD>
>         </ROW>
>         <ROW>
>             <FIELD ID='1'>
>                 <VALUE>Q</VALUE>
>             </FIELD>
>             <FIELD ID='2'>
>                 <VALUE>D</VALUE>
>             </FIELD>
>         </ROW>
>         <ROW>
>             <FIELD ID='1'>
>                 <VALUE>E</VALUE>
>             </FIELD>
>             <FIELD ID='2'>
>                 <VALUE>F</VALUE>
>             </FIELD>
>         </ROW>
>     </ROWS>
> </DATA>
> 
> I want to sort the data by the values where field id =1.  I've tried this :

Well, there is the only DATA element in your XML, so sorting it makes a 
little sense. Most likely you want to sort ROW elements?

> <xsl:apply-templates select="DATA" mode="sorted">
>    <xsl:sort select="ROWS/ROW/FIELD[@ID='1']/VALUE/text()" />
> </xsl:apply-templates>

Try

<xsl:apply-templates select="DATA/ROWS/ROW" mode="sorted">
    <xsl:sort select="FIELD[@ID='1']/VALUE" />
</xsl:apply-templates>

-- 
Oleg Tkachenko [XML MVP]
http://blog.tkachenko.com