We will use the following XML document in the examples below.
An axis defines a node-set relative to the current node.
AxisName | Result |
---|---|
ancestor | Selects all ancestors (parent, grandparent, etc.) of the current node |
ancestor-or-self | Selects all ancestors (parent, grandparent, etc.) of the current node and the current node itself |
attribute | Selects all attributes of the current node |
child | Selects all children of the current node |
descendant | Selects all descendants (children, grandchildren, etc.) of the current node |
descendant-or-self | Selects all descendants (children, grandchildren, etc.) of the current node and the current node itself |
following | Selects everything in the document after the closing tag of the current node |
following-sibling | Selects all siblings after the current node |
namespace | Selects all namespace nodes of the current node |
parent | Selects the parent of the current node |
preceding | Selects all nodes that appear before the current node in the document, except ancestors, attribute nodes and namespace nodes |
preceding-sibling | Selects all siblings before the current node |
self | Selects the current node |
A location path can be absolute or relative.
An absolute location path starts with a slash ( / ) and a relative location path does not. In both cases the location path consists of one or more steps, each separated by a slash:
Each step is evaluated against the nodes in the current node-set.
A step consists of:
The syntax for a location step is:
Example | Result |
---|---|
child::book | Selects all book nodes that are children of the current node |
attribute::lang | Selects the lang attribute of the current node |
child::* | Selects all element children of the current node |
attribute::* | Selects all attributes of the current node |
child::text() | Selects all text node children of the current node |
child::node() | Selects all children of the current node |
descendant::book | Selects all book descendants of the current node |
ancestor::book | Selects all book ancestors of the current node |
ancestor-or-self::book | Selects all book ancestors of the current node - and the current as well if it is a book node |
child::*/child::price | Selects all price grandchildren of the current node |