Getting started with xpath Finding elements containing specific text Namespaces Select nodes with names equal to or containing some string Find nodes that have a specific attribute Get the count of nodes Location paths and axes Finding elements containing specific attributes Get nodes relative to the current node Select nodes based on their children Check if a node is present Check if a node's text is empty

Get nodes relative to the current node

Remarks:

These axes can be used in combination with other functions to suit our needs.

Find My ancestors

XML

<GrandFather name="Bardock" gender="male" spouse="Gine">
    <Dad name="Goku" gender="male" spouse="Chi Chi">
        <Me name="Gohan" gender="male"/>
        <brother name="Goten" gender="male"/>
    </Dad>
</GrandFather>

XPATH

//Me/ancestor::node()

OUTPUT

<GrandFather name="Bardock" gender="male" spouse="Gine">
  <Dad name="Goku" gender="male" spouse="Chi Chi">
    <Me name="Gohan" gender="male" />
    <brother name="Goten" gender="male" />
  </Dad>
</GrandFather>
<Dad name="Goku" gender="male" spouse="Chi Chi">
  <Me name="Gohan" gender="male" />
  <brother name="Goten" gender="male" />
</Dad>

Find My Parent

XML

<GrandFather name="Bardock" gender="male" spouse="Gine">
    <Dad name="Goku" gender="male" spouse="Chi Chi">
        <Me name="Gohan" gender="male"/>
        <brother name="Goten" gender="male"/>
    </Dad>
</GrandFather>

XPATH

//Me/ancestor::Dad

//Me/parent::node()

OUTPUT

<Dad name="Goku" gender="male" spouse="Chi Chi">
  <Me name="Gohan" gender="male" />
  <brother name="Goten" gender="male" />
</Dad>

Find my grand father

XML

<GrandFather name="Bardock" gender="male" spouse="Gine">
  <Dad name="Goku" gender="male" spouse="Chi Chi">
    <Me name="Gohan" gender="male" />
    <brother name="Goten" gender="male" />
  </Dad>
</GrandFather>

XPATH

//Me/ancestor::GrandFather

//Me/parent::node()/parent::node()

OUTPUT

<GrandFather name="Bardock" gender="male" spouse="Gine">
  <Dad name="Goku" gender="male" spouse="Chi Chi">
    <Me name="Gohan" gender="male" />
    <brother name="Goten" gender="male" />
  </Dad>
</GrandFather>

Find my brother

XML

<GrandFather name="Bardock" gender="male" spouse="Gine">
  <Dad name="Goku" gender="male" spouse="Chi Chi">
    <brother name="Goten" gender="male" />
    <Me name="Gohan" gender="male" />
    <brother name="Goten" gender="male" />
  </Dad>
</GrandFather>

XPATH

//Me/following-sibling::brother

OUTPUT

<brother name="Goten" gender="male" />

Get all avatars before Parashurama

XML

<Dashavatar>
    <Avatar name="Matsya"/>
    <Avatar name="Kurma"/>
    <Avatar name="Varaha"/>
    <Avatar name="Narasimha"/>
    <Avatar name="Vamana"/>
    <Avatar name="Balabhadra"/>
    <Avatar name="Parashurama"/>
    <Avatar name="Rama"/>
    <Avatar name="Krishna"/>
    <Avatar name="Kalki"/>
</Dashavatar>

XPATH

//Avatar[@name='Parashurama']/preceding-sibling::node()

OUTPUT

<Avatar name="Matsya"/>
<Avatar name="Kurma"/>
<Avatar name="Varaha"/>
<Avatar name="Narasimha"/>
<Avatar name="Vamana"/>
<Avatar name="Balabhadra"/>

Get all avatars after Parashurama

XML

<Dashavatar>
    <Avatar name="Matsya"/>
    <Avatar name="Kurma"/>
    <Avatar name="Varaha"/>
    <Avatar name="Narasimha"/>
    <Avatar name="Vamana"/>
    <Avatar name="Balabhadra"/>
    <Avatar name="Parashurama"/>
    <Avatar name="Rama"/>
    <Avatar name="Krishna"/>
    <Avatar name="Kalki"/>
</Dashavatar>

XPATH

//Avatar[@name='Parashurama']/following-sibling::node()

OUTPUT

<Avatar name="Rama" />
<Avatar name="Krishna" />
<Avatar name="Kalki" />

Get all avatars except the current one (Parusharama)

XML

<Dashavatar>
    <Avatar name="Matsya"/>
    <Avatar name="Kurma"/>
    <Avatar name="Varaha"/>
    <Avatar name="Narasimha"/>
    <Avatar name="Vamana"/>
    <Avatar name="Balabhadra"/>
    <Avatar name="Parashurama"/>
    <Avatar name="Rama"/>
    <Avatar name="Krishna"/>
    <Avatar name="Kalki"/>
</Dashavatar>

XPATH

//Avatar[@name='Parashurama']/following-sibling::Avatar | //Avatar[@name='Parashurama']/preceding-sibling::Avatar

OUTPUT

<Avatar name="Matsya" />
<Avatar name="Kurma" />
<Avatar name="Varaha" />
<Avatar name="Narasimha" />
<Avatar name="Vamana" />
<Avatar name="Balabhadra" />
<Avatar name="Rama" />
<Avatar name="Krishna" />
<Avatar name="Kalki" />

Get all the details (child nodes) of House

XML

<House>
    <Rooms>10</Rooms>
    <People>4</People>
    <TVs>4</TVs>
    <Floors>2</Floors>
</House>

XPATH

/House/child::node()

OUTPUT

<Rooms>10</Rooms>
<People>4</People>
<TVs>4</TVs>
<Floors>2</Floors>

Get all rooms (immediate children named Room) in House

XML

<House>
    <numRooms>4</numRooms>
    <Room name="living"/>
    <Room name="master bedroom"/>
    <Room name="kids' bedroom"/>
    <Room name="kitchen"/>
</House>

XPATH

/House/child::Room

/House/*[local-name()='Room']

OUTPUT

<Room name="living" />
<Room name="master bedroom" />
<Room name="kids' bedroom" />
<Room name="kitchen" />

Get all rooms (irrespective of the position) in House

XML

<House>
    <numRooms>4</numRooms>
    <Floor number="1">
        <Room name="living"/>
        <Room name="kitchen"/>
    </Floor>
    <Floor number="2">
        <Room name="master bedroom"/>
        <Room name="kids' bedroom"/>    
    </Floor>
</House>

XPATH

/House/descendant::Room

OUTPUT

<Room name="living" />
<Room name="kitchen" />
<Room name="master bedroom" />
<Room name="kids' bedroom" />

Syntax:

All ancestors of a node
- /path to the node/ancestor::node()
A specific ancestor of a node
- /path to the node/ancestor::ancestor_name
Parent of a node
- /path to the node/parent::node()
Following siblings of a node
- /path to the node/following-sibling::node()
A specific sibling following a node
- /path to the node/following-sibling::sibling_name
Preceding siblings of a node
- /path to the node/preceding-sibling::node()
A specific sibling preceding a node
- /path to the node/preceding-sibling::sibling_name
All immediate child nodes of a node
- /path to the node/child::node()
A specific immediate child node of a node
- /path to the node/child::chid_name
All the descendants of a node
- /path to the node/descendant::node()
All specific descendants of a node
- /path the to node/descendant::descendant_name

Parameters:

Axis	selects
ancestor	all the ancestor nodes
parent	parent node
following-sibling	siblings following the node
preceding-sibling	siblings preceding the node
child	immediate children
descendant	all the descendant irrespective of the nesting level

Contributors

Topic Id: 6495

Example Ids: 22290,22291,22292,22293,22294,22295,22296,22297,22298,22299

This site is not affiliated with any of the contributors.