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XPath Introduction

XPath is a set of syntax rules for defining parts of an XML document.

What is XPath?

• XPath is a syntax for defining parts of an XML document
• XPath uses paths to define XML elements
• XPath defines a library of standard functions
• XPath is a major element in XSLT
• XPath is not written in XML
• XPath is a W3C Standard

Like Traditional File Paths

XPath uses path expressions to identify nodes in an XML document. These path expressions looks very much like the expressions you see when you work with a computer file system:

w3schools/xpath/default.asp

XPath Example

Look at this simple XML document:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<catalog>
  <cd country="USA">
    <title>Empire Burlesque</title>
    <artist>Bob Dylan</artist>
    <price>10.90</price>
  </cd>
  <cd country="UK">
    <title>Hide your heart</title>
    <artist>Bonnie Tyler</artist>
    <price>9.90</price>
  </cd>
  <cd country="USA">
    <title>Greatest Hits</title> 
    <artist>Dolly Parton</artist> 
    <price>9.90</price> 
  </cd>
</catalog>

The XPath expression below selects the ROOT element catalog:

The XPath expression below selects all the cd elements of the catalog element:

The XPath expression below selects all the price elements of all the cd elements of the catalog element:

Note: If the path starts with a slash ( / ) it represents an absolute path to an element!

XPath Defines a Library of Standard Functions

XPath defines a library of standard functions for working with strings, numbers and Boolean expressions.

The XPath expression below selects all the cd elements that have a price element with a value larger than 10.80:

XPath is Used in XSLT

XPath is a major element of the XSLT standard. Without XPath knowledge you will not be able to create XSLT documents.

You can read more about XSLT in our XSLT tutorial.

XPath is a W3C Standard

XPath was released as a W3C Recommendation 16. November 1999 as a language for addressing parts of an XML document.

XPath was designed to be used by XSLT, XPointer and other XML parsing software.

You can read more about XML and XSL standards in our W3C tutorial.

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