VariableReference given for variable out of context or without de finition!

[Derek Settle <De...@2roam.com>]

I'm currently encountering the following error with the release of Xalan
1.0.1:

-----
XSL Error: pattern = 'starts-with($link, 's')'
VariableReference given for variable out of context or without definition!
Name
 = link, source tree node: area
XSL Error: SAX Exception
pattern = 'starts-with($link, 's')'
VariableReference given for variable out of context or without definition!
Name
 = link
-----

This works fine with past Xalan releases and also with Stylus engine.

I realize this may have been a bug in the way I was coding the style-sheet
but is there a way to get this to work without having to completely re-write
all existing style-sheets which use the same methodology?...  (I never
realized I was coding a hack when I initially started with XSL... I think
this approach should actually be an enhancement!) 

Here is the template rule being used which than generates the error output:
-----
<xsl:template name="navigation">
   <xsl:param name="page">default</xsl:param>
   <xsl:variable name="counter">1</xsl:variable>
   <xsl:variable name="help"></xsl:variable>
   <xsl:variable name="help_href"></xsl:variable>
   <xsl:variable name="link"></xsl:variable>

   <xsl:for-each select="descendant::area">
         <xsl:if test="normalize-space(@alt)!='' or
normalize-space(@href)='p?p=t'">
            <xsl:choose>
               <!-- <xsl:when test="contains(normalize-space(@alt),'stores')
or contains(normalize-space(@alt),'brands') or
contains(normalize-space(@alt),'departments') or
contains(normalize-space(@alt),'Help') or
contains(normalize-space(@alt),'Change')"> -->
               <xsl:when test="contains(normalize-space(@alt),'stores') or
contains(normalize-space(@alt),'departments') or
contains(normalize-space(@alt),'Help') or
contains(normalize-space(@alt),'Change') or
contains(normalize-space(@href),'p?p=t')">
                  <xsl:choose>
                     <xsl:when test="normalize-space($page)='stores' and
contains(normalize-space(@alt),'stores')">
                        <!-- don't show link -->
                     </xsl:when>
                     <xsl:when test="normalize-space($page)='brands' and
contains(normalize-space(@alt),'brands')">  
                        <!-- don't show link -->               
                     </xsl:when> 
                     <xsl:when test="normalize-space($page)='departments'
and contains(normalize-space(@alt),'departments')"> 
                        <!-- don't show link -->               
                     </xsl:when> 
                     <xsl:when test="normalize-space($page)='Home' and
contains(normalize-space(@alt),'brands')"> 
                        <!-- don't show link -->               
                     </xsl:when>       
                     <xsl:when test="normalize-space($page)='Home' and
contains(normalize-space(@alt),'Help')">   
                        <xsl:variable name="help"
select="normalize-space(@alt)"/>
                        <xsl:variable name="help_href" select="@href"/>
                     </xsl:when>                         
                     <xsl:when test="normalize-space($page)='Home' and
contains(normalize-space(@href),'p?p=t')"> 
                        <!-- don't show link -->               
                     </xsl:when>                         
                     <xsl:otherwise>   
                        <xsl:choose>
                           <xsl:when test="contains(normalize-space(@alt),
'of ')">
                              <xsl:variable name="link"
select="substring-after(normalize-space(@alt), 'of ')"/>
                           </xsl:when>
                           <xsl:when test="contains(normalize-space(@alt),
'Change')">
                              <xsl:variable name="link">
                                 Change Shopping Area
                              </xsl:variable>
                           </xsl:when>          
                           <xsl:when test="contains(normalize-space(@href),
'p?p=t')">
                              <xsl:variable name="link">
                                 Home
                              </xsl:variable>
                           </xsl:when>                               
                           <xsl:otherwise>
                              <xsl:variable name="link"
select="normalize-space(@alt)"/>
                           </xsl:otherwise>
                        </xsl:choose>
                        <xsl:choose>
                           <xsl:when test="starts-with($link, 's')">
                              <xsl:variable name="link"
select="concat('S',substring-after($link, 's'))"/>
                           </xsl:when>
                           <xsl:when test="starts-with($link, 'b')">
                              <xsl:variable name="link"
select="concat('B',substring-after($link, 'b'))"/>
                           </xsl:when>
                           <xsl:when test="starts-with($link, 'd')">
                              <xsl:variable name="link"
select="concat('D',substring-after($link, 'd'))"/>
                           </xsl:when>    
                        </xsl:choose>
                        <xsl:variable name="link" select="$link"/>
                        <window>                
                           <test name="{normalize-space($link)}">
                              <a href="{@href}"><xsl:value-of
select="normalize-space($link)"/></a>                     
                           </test>   
                        </window>
                     </xsl:otherwise>     
                  </xsl:choose>
               </xsl:when>
            </xsl:choose>
         </xsl:if>
   </xsl:for-each>
   
   <xsl:if test="$help!=''">
      <window>                
         <test name="{$help}">                      
            <a href="{$help_href}"><xsl:value-of select="$help"/></a>

         </test>   
      </window>
   </xsl:if>
</xsl:template>
----

Regards, and thanks for any help you can provide!

Derek Settle
dereks@2roam.com