Question

Xpath position problem

Asked by: aquasw

HI Experts

I have this xml file :
<sut>
      <a>a1</a>
      <a style="visible">
            a2
            <div>Add1</div>
      </a>
      <a>a3</a>
      <a style="visible">
            a4
            <div>Add2</div>
      </a>
      <a style="visible">
            a5
            <div>Edit</div>
      </a>
</sut>



if I have this xpath query :
//a[contains(@style, 'visible')]/div[contains(text(), 'Add')]

I get 2 answers :
<div>Add1</div>
<div>Add2</div>


I want to get only the last query : <div>Add2</div>

I tried to write
//a[contains(@style, 'visible')]/div[contains(text(), 'Add')][2]
or
//a[contains(@style, 'visible')]/div[contains(text(), 'Add')][last()]

but it didn't worked.

does any one know what is the right xpath query to get the second answer ?

Thanks

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Asked On
2009-06-16 at 07:13:30ID24495587
Topics

Extensible Markup Language (XML)

,

XPath

Participating Experts
2
Points
500
Comments
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Answers

 

by: abelPosted on 2009-06-16 at 07:25:11ID: 24638339

You can try the following (the last element is "Edit", but I assume you mean the last qith content "Add"):

//a[@style = 'visible'][div[contains(text(), 'Add')]][last()]

which will give you the <a> element. If you want the <div>, you can change that to:

//a[@style = 'visible'][div[contains(text(), 'Add')]][last()]/div

and for performance reason, it is best to use absolute (or relative) XPaths, which in this case would be:

/sut/a[@style = 'visible'][div[contains(text(), 'Add')]][last()]/div

-- Abel --

 

by: GertonePosted on 2009-06-16 at 07:31:09ID: 24638394

use an extra pair of brackets
(//a[contains(@style, 'visible')]/div[contains(text(), 'Add')])[2]

 

by: GertonePosted on 2009-06-16 at 07:46:42ID: 24638553

Aha, late in the poarty again, I see :-)

The problem of this is the priority of the predicate.

The problem you were having was the following
The [2] belongs to /div[contains(text(), 'Add')], not to the entire Nodeset found in the full XPath

Brackets get around that, allthough I am not certain it works with all XSLT1.0 processors (abel?)
A quick test shows me it works in Xalan and Saxon6, I assume it is general.
It is definitely the easiest approach in XSLT2

Abel showed a nice way of forcing all in predicates instead of having a forward "/"
overcoming this problem as well.
Maybe his method is preferable, I don't know.
There is one risk hidden in  that method, which does not show up here but will do if you approach the issue this way in a general context
If there would be more than one <div> in <a>, you would need to repeat the predicate on div,
a bit like this
/sut/a[@style = 'visible'][div[contains(text(), 'Add')]][last()]/div[contains(text(), 'Add')][last()]
I hope you understand why

Good luck
Geert


 

by: abelPosted on 2009-06-16 at 08:58:00ID: 24639342

Let's follow up on a few of those clear observations and questions from Gertone:

  • The inner square bracket syntax is allowed for all processors (perhaps that was clear, I just like to stress it). 
  • The grouping brackets (normal parenthesis) are only allowed around the whole XPath expression in XSLT 1.0, starting on the beginning, returning a nodeset; they are allowed on almost any part of the XPath expression in XSLT 2.0. The grouping suggested by Gertone will work with your example in either processor. 
  • The repetition of the inner and chained square brackets syntax I introduced can be ignored by using the following syntax instead, which is yet another way to get to the same 
  • A better approach, if you use this in an XSLT, is to use matching template for <a> and go from there. 

Alternative to prevent the repetition of the square bracket syntax when there are more <div> elements per <a> and you only need the first (or the last, or whatever number):

/sut/a/div[../a[@style='visible'][contains(text(), 'Add')][last()]

I didn't test that last expression, but it should work too and select the last one. The difference with the earlier ones is that you request "does the parent <a> have a visible style?. The rest is the same.

 

by: abelPosted on 2009-06-16 at 09:00:20ID: 24639371

I see an obvious error in my last XPath. To get to the parent of <div>, you must use the grandparent syntax (yes, I know XPaths can be confusing) because the current node is div:

/sut/a/div[../../a[@style='visible'][contains(text(), 'Add')][last()]

 

by: abelPosted on 2009-06-23 at 02:19:02ID: 24690181

Thanks for grading. Nobody spotted that other error in my last XPath? For completeness and for the PAQ, here is it, once more, corrected (as it is now, it will raise some eyebrows and an error):

/sut/a/div[../../a[@style='visible']][contains(text(), 'Add')][last()]

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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