diff --git a/src/apply/ref.xsl b/src/apply/ref.xsl
index c1a7be4..b1a2881 100644
--- a/src/apply/ref.xsl
+++ b/src/apply/ref.xsl
@@ -31,15 +31,25 @@
   The descriptor @var{desc} has the following format:
 
   @example
-    <f:ref arity="N" [...]>
+    <f:ref arity="N" length="M" [...]>
       <target />
     </f:ref>
   @end example
 
   where the @var{target} node shares the same QName as the function to
-  be applied, and @var{@arity} is its arity.  The @var{f:ref} node may
-  be decorated with additional attributes depending on its context or
+  be applied, and @var{@arity} is its arity.  @var{@length} caches the
+  number of items (in a sequence) that make up the reference; it can
+  be retrieved with @code{f:length}.  The @var{f:ref} node may be
+  decorated with additional attributes depending on its context or
   constructor.
+
+  Each of these functions respects data adjacent to the given
+  reference (which is at the head of the sequence).  For example,
+  @code{f:set-args} will set the arguments of the dynamic function
+  reference represented by the head of the provided sequence, but will
+  leave all data following the reference untouched; this allows
+  references to be processed in a streaming manner without cutting the
+  sequence up before operating on the reference.
 -->
 
 <stylesheet version="2.0"
@@ -66,7 +76,7 @@
   <variable name="ns"
             select="namespace-uri-from-QName( $name )" />
 
-  <f:ref arity="{$arity}">
+  <f:ref arity="{$arity}" length="1">
     <element name="{$name}"
              namespace="{$ns}" />
   </f:ref>
@@ -160,7 +170,12 @@
 <function name="f:args" as="item()*">
   <param name="fnref" as="item()+" />
 
-  <sequence select="remove( $fnref, 1 )" />
+  <variable name="desc" as="element( f:ref )"
+            select="$fnref[ 1 ]" />
+  <variable name="length" as="xs:double"
+            select="$desc/@length" />
+
+  <sequence select="subsequence( $fnref, 2, ( $length - 1 ) )" />
 </function>
 
 
@@ -200,10 +215,17 @@
     <attribute name="arity"
                select="$target-arity - count( $args )" />
 
+    <attribute name="length"
+               select="count( $args ) + 1" />
+
     <sequence select="$desc/*" />
   </f:ref>
 
-  <sequence select="$args" />
+  <!-- be sure to retain the adjacent data (which is offset by the
+       _original_ reference length) -->
+  <sequence select="$args,
+                    subsequence( $fnref,
+                                 $desc/@length + 1 )" />
 </function>
 
 
@@ -234,4 +256,28 @@
                                ($args, f:args( $fnref )) )" />
 </function>
 
+
+<!--
+  Retrieve length of @var{fnref} as a number of sequence items
+
+  While the reference is intended to be opaque, it is no secret that
+  the data are stored as a sequence.  The length is therefore
+  important for stepping through that sequence of data, similar to how
+  data/struct length are required for pointer arithmetic when dealing
+  with memory in C.
+
+  So, this doesn't break encapsulation: it just tells us how big we
+  are, which is an external quality that can be easily discovered
+  without our help; we just cache it for both performance and
+  convenience.  Aren't we nice?
+-->
+<function name="f:length" as="xs:double">
+  <param name="fnref" as="item()+" />
+
+  <variable name="desc" as="element( f:ref )"
+            select="$fnref[ 1 ]" />
+
+  <sequence select="number( $desc/@length )" />
+</function>
+
 </stylesheet>
diff --git a/test/apply/partial.xspec b/test/apply/partial.xspec
index aca7643..605b7ea 100644
--- a/test/apply/partial.xspec
+++ b/test/apply/partial.xspec
@@ -27,6 +27,11 @@
              xmlns:foo="http://www.lovullo.com/_junk"
              stylesheet="partial-test.xsl">
 
+  <!-- TODO: this is common between a number of files; move me -->
+  <variable name="foo-uri"
+            select="namespace-uri-for-prefix(
+                      'foo', root(.)/element() )" />
+
   <variable name="fnref"
             select="foo:ternary()" />
 
@@ -89,11 +94,10 @@
               test="$x:result[ 1 ]
                     and $x:result[ 1 ] = foo:ternary-applied" />
 
-      <variable name="rargs" select="f:args( $x:result )" />
       <expect label="applies target function with arguments, by reference"
-              test="$rargs[ 1 ] is $args/foo:a
-                    and $rargs[ 2 ] is $args/foo:b
-                    and $rargs[ 3 ] is $args/foo:c" />
+              test="$x:result[ 2 ] is $args/foo:a
+                    and $x:result[ 3 ] is $args/foo:b
+                    and $x:result[ 4 ] is $args/foo:c" />
     </scenario>
 
 
@@ -144,9 +148,9 @@
                      arguments to a target">
       <scenario label="unary">
         <call function="f:partial">
-          <param name="fnref">
-            <f:ref arity="1"><foo:fn1 /></f:ref>
-          </param>
+          <param name="fnref"
+                 select="f:make-ref( QName( $foo-uri, 'foo:fn1' ),
+                                     1 )" />
           <param name="args" select="$args/foo:a" />
         </call>
 
@@ -160,9 +164,9 @@
 
       <scenario label="binary">
         <call function="f:partial">
-          <param name="fnref">
-            <f:ref arity="2"><foo:fn2 /></f:ref>
-          </param>
+          <param name="fnref"
+                 select="f:make-ref( QName( $foo-uri, 'foo:fn2' ),
+                                     2 )" />
           <param name="args" select="$args/foo:a,
                                      $args/foo:b" />
         </call>
@@ -178,9 +182,9 @@
 
       <scenario label="ternary">
         <call function="f:partial">
-          <param name="fnref">
-            <f:ref arity="3"><foo:fn3 /></f:ref>
-          </param>
+          <param name="fnref"
+                 select="f:make-ref( QName( $foo-uri, 'foo:fn3' ),
+                                     3 )" />
           <param name="args" select="$args/foo:a,
                                      $args/foo:b,
                                      $args/foo:c" />
@@ -198,9 +202,9 @@
 
       <scenario label="4-ary">
         <call function="f:partial">
-          <param name="fnref">
-            <f:ref arity="4"><foo:fn4 /></f:ref>
-          </param>
+          <param name="fnref"
+                 select="f:make-ref( QName( $foo-uri, 'foo:fn4' ),
+                                     4 )" />
           <param name="args" select="$args/foo:a,
                                      $args/foo:b,
                                      $args/foo:c,
@@ -220,9 +224,9 @@
 
       <scenario label="5-ary">
         <call function="f:partial">
-          <param name="fnref">
-            <f:ref arity="5"><foo:fn5 /></f:ref>
-          </param>
+          <param name="fnref"
+                 select="f:make-ref( QName( $foo-uri, 'foo:fn5' ),
+                                     5 )" />
           <param name="args" select="$args/foo:a,
                                      $args/foo:b,
                                      $args/foo:c,
@@ -244,9 +248,9 @@
 
       <scenario label="6-ary">
         <call function="f:partial">
-          <param name="fnref">
-            <f:ref arity="6"><foo:fn6 /></f:ref>
-          </param>
+          <param name="fnref"
+                 select="f:make-ref( QName( $foo-uri, 'foo:fn6' ),
+                                     6 )" />
           <param name="args" select="$args/foo:a,
                                      $args/foo:b,
                                      $args/foo:c,
@@ -270,9 +274,9 @@
 
       <scenario label="7-ary">
         <call function="f:partial">
-          <param name="fnref">
-            <f:ref arity="7"><foo:fn7 /></f:ref>
-          </param>
+          <param name="fnref"
+                 select="f:make-ref( QName( $foo-uri, 'foo:fn7' ),
+                                     7 )" />
           <param name="args" select="$args/foo:a,
                                      $args/foo:b,
                                      $args/foo:c,
@@ -298,9 +302,9 @@
 
       <scenario label="8-ary">
         <call function="f:partial">
-          <param name="fnref">
-            <f:ref arity="8"><foo:fn8 /></f:ref>
-          </param>
+          <param name="fnref"
+                 select="f:make-ref( QName( $foo-uri, 'foo:fn8' ),
+                                     8 )" />
           <param name="args" select="$args/foo:a,
                                      $args/foo:b,
                                      $args/foo:c,
diff --git a/test/apply/ref.xspec b/test/apply/ref.xspec
index 86d0b2a..1259c9e 100644
--- a/test/apply/ref.xspec
+++ b/test/apply/ref.xspec
@@ -68,6 +68,13 @@
 
       <expect label="produces reference to expected QName"
               test="f:QName( $x:result ) = $qname" />
+
+      <!-- this isn't breaking encapsulation: we know that a sequence
+           is returned and we must know how to delimit the references
+           within it -->
+      <expect label="produces length equal to length of returned
+                     sequence"
+              test="f:length( $x:result ) = count( $x:result )" />
     </scenario>
 
 
@@ -102,6 +109,19 @@
     </scenario>
 
 
+    <scenario label="given a valid dynamic function reference adjacent
+                     to other data">
+      <call function="f:is-ref">
+        <param name="fnref"
+               select="f:make-ref( QName( $foo-uri, 'foo' ), 0 ),
+                       'adjacent data'" />
+      </call>
+
+      <expect label="returns true()"
+              select="true()" />
+    </scenario>
+
+
     <scenario label="given an invalid dynamic function reference">
       <call function="f:is-ref">
         <param name="fnref">
@@ -223,14 +243,30 @@
       <expect label="returns empty sequence"
               select="()" />
     </scenario>
+
+
+    <scenario label="given a valid dynamic function reference with
+                     adjacent data">
+      <call function="f:QName">
+        <param name="fnref"
+               select="f:make-ref( $foo-qname, 0 ),
+                       'adjacent data'" />
+      </call>
+
+      <expect label="returns QName"
+              test="$x:result instance of xs:QName" />
+
+      <expect label="returns QName of target dynamic function"
+              select="$foo-qname" />
+    </scenario>
   </scenario>
 
 
   <scenario label="f:arity">
-    <scenario label="given a proper function reference">
-      <variable name="test-arity"
-                select="5" />
+    <variable name="test-arity"
+              select="5" />
 
+    <scenario label="given a proper function reference">
       <!-- test our format directly; do not rely on the
            apply-gen code -->
       <call function="f:arity">
@@ -242,6 +278,20 @@
     </scenario>
 
 
+    <scenario label="given a proper function reference with adjacent
+                     data">
+      <!-- test our format directly; do not rely on the
+           apply-gen code -->
+      <call function="f:arity">
+        <param name="fnref" select="$test-fn,
+                                    'adjacent data'" />
+      </call>
+
+      <expect label="provides function arity"
+              select="$test-arity" />
+    </scenario>
+
+
     <scenario label="given a partially applied function reference">
       <call function="f:arity">
         <param name="fnref"
@@ -281,6 +331,10 @@
 
       <expect label="retains target arity"
               test="f:arity( $x:result ) = f:arity( $test-fn )" />
+
+      <expect label="produces length equal to length of constructed
+                     sequence"
+              test="f:length( $x:result ) = count( $x:result )" />
     </scenario>
 
 
@@ -296,6 +350,10 @@
       <!-- the function is now partially applied -->
       <expect label="reduces arity by number of arguments"
               test="f:arity( $x:result ) = f:arity( $test-fn ) - 2" />
+
+      <expect label="produces length equal to length of constructed
+                     sequence"
+              test="f:length( $x:result ) = count( $x:result )" />
     </scenario>
 
 
@@ -313,6 +371,10 @@
       <!-- the function is no longer partially applied -->
       <expect label="restores target function arity"
               test="f:arity( $x:result ) = f:arity( $test-fn )" />
+
+      <expect label="produces length equal to length of constructed
+                     sequence"
+              test="f:length( $x:result ) = count( $x:result )" />
     </scenario>
 
 
@@ -330,6 +392,10 @@
       <!-- the function is no longer partially applied -->
       <expect label="reduces arity by number of argments"
               test="f:arity( $x:result ) = f:arity( $test-fn ) - 3" />
+
+      <expect label="produces length equal to length of constructed
+                     sequence"
+              test="f:length( $x:result ) = count( $x:result )" />
     </scenario>
 
 
@@ -347,6 +413,36 @@
       <!-- the function is no longer partially applied -->
       <expect label="increases arity by difference in argument count"
               test="f:arity( $x:result ) = f:arity( $test-fn ) - 1" />
+
+      <expect label="produces length equal to length of constructed
+                     sequence"
+              test="f:length( $x:result ) = count( $x:result )" />
+    </scenario>
+
+
+    <scenario label="operating adjacent to other data">
+      <call function="f:set-args">
+        <param name="fnref" select="$test-fn,
+                                    $args/foo:a,
+                                    $args/foo:b" />
+        <param name="args"  select="(1, 2)" />
+      </call>
+
+      <expect label="retains target QName"
+              test="f:QName( $x:result ) = f:QName( $test-fn )" />
+
+      <expect label="reduces arity by number of arguments"
+              test="f:arity( $x:result ) = f:arity( $test-fn ) - 2" />
+
+      <!-- notice that the length _does not_ reflect adjacent data -->
+      <expect label="produces length equal to length of constructed
+                     sequence, sans adjacent data"
+              test="f:length( $x:result ) = count( $x:result ) - 2" />
+
+      <variable name="rlength" select="count( $x:result )" />
+      <expect label="retains adjacent data by reference"
+              test="$x:result[ $rlength - 1 ] is $args/foo:a
+                    and $x:result[ $rlength ] is $args/foo:b" />
     </scenario>
   </scenario>
 
@@ -396,6 +492,23 @@
       <expect label="returns no other items"
               test="count( $x:result ) = 2" />
     </scenario>
+
+
+    <scenario label="operating on a reference preceding adjacent data">
+      <call function="f:args">
+        <param name="fnref"
+               select="f:set-args( $test-fn, ($args/foo:a,
+                                              $args/foo:b) ),
+                       'adjacent data'" />
+      </call>
+
+      <expect label="returns sequence of arguments by reference"
+              test="$x:result[ 1 ] is $args/foo:a
+                      and $x:result[ 2 ] is $args/foo:b" />
+
+      <expect label="returns no adjacent data"
+              test="count( $x:result ) = 2" />
+    </scenario>
   </scenario>
 
 
@@ -419,6 +532,10 @@
       <expect label="sets arguments by reference"
               test="f:args( $x:result )[ 1 ] is $args/foo:a
                     and f:args( $x:result )[ 2 ] is $args/foo:b" />
+
+      <expect label="produces length equal to length of constructed
+                     sequence"
+              test="f:length( $x:result ) = count( $x:result )" />
     </scenario>
 
 
@@ -448,6 +565,10 @@
       <expect label="pushes new arguments by reference"
               test="f:args( $x:result )[ 3 ] is $args/foo:c
                     and f:args( $x:result )[ 4 ] is $args/foo:d" />
+
+      <expect label="produces length equal to length of constructed
+                     sequence"
+              test="f:length( $x:result ) = count( $x:result )" />
     </scenario>
 
 
@@ -470,6 +591,43 @@
       <expect label="retains previous arguments by reference"
               test="f:args( $x:result )[ 1 ] is $args/foo:a
                     and f:args( $x:result )[ 2 ] is $args/foo:b" />
+
+      <expect label="produces length equal to length of constructed
+                     sequence"
+              test="f:length( $x:result ) = count( $x:result )" />
+    </scenario>
+
+
+    <scenario label="pushing arguments onto reference adjacent to
+                     other data">
+      <call function="f:push-args">
+        <param name="fnref"
+               select="$test-fn,
+                       $args/foo:a,
+                       $args/foo:b" />
+        <param name="args"
+               select="$args/foo:c" />
+      </call>
+
+      <expect label="retains target QName"
+              test="f:QName( $x:result ) = f:QName( $test-fn )" />
+
+      <expect label="reduces arity by number of arguments, relative to
+                     target function"
+              test="f:arity( $x:result ) = f:arity( $test-fn ) - 1" />
+
+      <expect label="sets arguments by reference"
+              test="f:args( $x:result )[ 1 ] is $args/foo:c" />
+
+      <variable name="rlength" select="count( $x:result )" />
+
+      <expect label="produces length equal to length of constructed
+                     sequence, sans adjacent data"
+              test="f:length( $x:result ) = $rlength - 2" />
+
+      <expect label="retains adjacent data by reference"
+              test="$x:result[ $rlength - 1 ] is $args/foo:a
+                    and $x:result[ $rlength ] is $args/foo:b" />
     </scenario>
   </scenario>
 
@@ -494,6 +652,10 @@
       <expect label="sets arguments by reference"
               test="f:args( $x:result )[ 1 ] is $args/foo:a
                     and f:args( $x:result )[ 2 ] is $args/foo:b" />
+
+      <expect label="produces length equal to length of constructed
+                     sequence"
+              test="f:length( $x:result ) = count( $x:result )" />
     </scenario>
 
 
@@ -523,6 +685,10 @@
       <expect label="unshifts new arguments by reference"
               test="f:args( $x:result )[ 1 ] is $args/foo:c
                     and f:args( $x:result )[ 2 ] is $args/foo:d" />
+
+      <expect label="produces length equal to length of constructed
+                     sequence"
+              test="f:length( $x:result ) = count( $x:result )" />
     </scenario>
 
 
@@ -545,6 +711,43 @@
       <expect label="retains previous arguments by reference"
               test="f:args( $x:result )[ 1 ] is $args/foo:a
                     and f:args( $x:result )[ 2 ] is $args/foo:b" />
+
+      <expect label="produces length equal to length of constructed
+                     sequence"
+              test="f:length( $x:result ) = count( $x:result )" />
+    </scenario>
+
+
+    <scenario label="unshifting arguments onto reference adjacent to
+                     other data">
+      <call function="f:unshift-args">
+        <param name="fnref"
+               select="$test-fn,
+                       $args/foo:a,
+                       $args/foo:b" />
+        <param name="args"
+               select="$args/foo:c" />
+      </call>
+
+      <expect label="retains target QName"
+              test="f:QName( $x:result ) = f:QName( $test-fn )" />
+
+      <expect label="reduces arity by number of arguments, relative to
+                     target function"
+              test="f:arity( $x:result ) = f:arity( $test-fn ) - 1" />
+
+      <expect label="sets arguments by reference"
+              test="f:args( $x:result )[ 1 ] is $args/foo:c" />
+
+      <variable name="rlength" select="count( $x:result )" />
+
+      <expect label="produces length equal to length of constructed
+                     sequence, sans adjacent data"
+              test="f:length( $x:result ) = $rlength - 2" />
+
+      <expect label="retains adjacent data by reference"
+              test="$x:result[ $rlength - 1 ] is $args/foo:a
+                    and $x:result[ $rlength ] is $args/foo:b" />
     </scenario>
   </scenario>
 </description>