Hi All Does lxml supports xslt functions ( http://www.w3schools.com/xpath/xpath_functions.asp) I have the following xsl file <xsl:template match="PropertyIsLike"> <xsl:variable name="literal" select="//Literal"/> <xsl:variable name="wildcard" select="//Literal[@wildCard]"/> <Statement><xsl:value-of select="//ValueReference" /> LIKE '<xsl:value-of select="fn:replace($literal, $wildcard, '%')" />'</Statement> </xsl:template> and try to replace some characters in the //Literal tag of the xml file xml file looks like the following <Filter><PropertyIsLike wildCard="*" singleChar="?" escapeChar="!"><ValueReference>highway</ValueReference><Literal>bus?st*</Literal></PropertyIsLike></Filter> Any hint, ideas, ... welcome. Thans a lot in advance