I have the following xmlsetup for a tablecell in xtable (plus other appropiate definitions): \startxmlsetups xmlcommon:td \startxcell[\doifnot{\xmlatt{#1}{width}}{\empty}{width={\xmlatt{#1}{width}}},] \xmlflush{#1} \stopxcell \stopxmlsetups and the following table: <table> <tr> <td> One </td> <td width="8cm"> Two </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <b>Three</b> </td> <td width="8cm"> Four </td> </tr> </table> Why isn't the width setting on the cells not honoured and is the following message appearing in the log: check > missing or ungrouped '=' after '\doifnot {8cm}{}{width={8cm}}' Also I tried \expanded{startxcell..} but it made no difference. Neither does width={\xmlatt{#1}{width}} because the a broad setting results instead of a cell 8cm wide. How can I then accomplish the following parameter scheme? on <td width="dimension"> the \startcellx[ takes width=dimension, on <td> the \startcellx does not take a width-paarameter. Hans van der Meer