Processing xml I get with: \writestatus{************}{\xmlattributedef{#1}{.}{default}{???}}
output: ************    > ???

and \writestatus{************}{\xmlattribute{#1}{.}{default}} has no attribute output

but with: \writestatus{************}{\xmlattdef{#1}{default}{???}}
output: ************    > mydefault

Is something amiss with \xmlattribute and \xmlattributedef?
I need these in order to get an attribute from a node higher up in the xml-tree.

Hans van der Meer