Opening view that uses a function - empty column

Two step inquiry:


1)  I have created a function that will parse a value out of XML stored in the pg_largeobject table using xpath, like
so:


CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION extract_from_extended(text, bigint)
  RETURNS text AS
$BODY$
    select translate( xpath(...) );
$BODY$
  LANGUAGE sql VOLATILE
  COST 100;


2)  I then created a view that calls this function as part of the query, like so:


CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW encounter AS
SELECT md.account_id, extract_from_extended('externalEncounterID'::text, md.id) AS external_id...
    FROM app.menu_data md, app.menu_structure ms
    WHERE...;

When I open this view via JDBC, there is no data in the column that is filled by the function call.

Any thoughts?
TIA,
BRady