In this chapter, we’ll see the XPath expression in details covering common types of Nodes, XPath defines and handles.
| S.No. | Node Type & Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Root element node of an XML Document. |
| 2 | Element node. |
| 3 | Text of an element node. |
| 4 | Attribute of an element node. |
| 5 | Comment |
1. XPath – Root Node
Following are the ways to get root element and do the processing afterwards.
Use Wildcard
Use /* , wild card expression to select the root node.
<p><xsl:value-of select = "name(/*)"/></p>
Use Name
Use /class, to select root node by name.
<p><xsl:value-of select = "name(/class)"/></p>
Use Name with wild card
Use /class/*, select all element under root node.
<p><xsl:value-of select = "name(/class/*)"/></p>
Example
In this example, we’ve created a sample XML document, students.xml and its stylesheet document students.xsl which uses the XPath expressions.
Following is the sample XML used.
students.xml
<?xml version = "1.0"?>
<?xml-stylesheet type = "text/xsl" href = "students.xsl"?>
<class>
<student rollno = "393">
<firstname>Dinkar</firstname>
<lastname>Kad</lastname>
<nickname>Dinkar</nickname>
<marks>85</marks>
</student>
<student rollno = "493">
<firstname>Vaneet</firstname>
<lastname>Gupta</lastname>
<nickname>Vinni</nickname>
<marks>95</marks>
</student>
<student rollno = "593">
<firstname>Jasvir</firstname>
<lastname>Singh</lastname>
<nickname>Jazz</nickname>
<marks>90</marks>
</student>
</class>
students.xsl
<?xml version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version = "1.0"
xmlns:xsl = "http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:template match = "/">
<html>
<body>
<h3>Root Element. Xpath expression = "/*"</h3>
<p><xsl:value-of select = "name(/*)"/></p>
<h3>Root Element. Xpath expression = "/class"</h3>
<p> <xsl:value-of select = "name(/class)"/></p>
<h3>Details of each Students. Xpath expression = "/class/*"</h3>
<table border = "1">
<tr bgcolor = "#9acd32">
<th>Roll No</th>
<th>First Name</th>
<th>Last Name</th>
<th>Nick Name</th>
<th>Marks</th>
</tr>
<xsl:for-each select = "/class/*">
<tr>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "@rollno"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "firstname"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "lastname"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "nickname"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "marks"/></td>
</tr>
</xsl:for-each>
</table>
</body>
</html>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>
Verify the output
2. XPath – Element Node
There are multiple ways to get and handle elements.
/class/* − select all element under root node.
<xsl:for-each select = "/class/*">
/class/student − select all student element under root node.
<xsl:for-each select = "/class/student">
//student − select all student elements in the document.
<xsl:for-each select = "//student">
Example
In this example, we’ve created a sample XML document students.xml and its stylesheet document students.xsl which uses the XPath expressions.
Following is the sample XML used.
students.xml
<?xml version = "1.0"?>
<?xml-stylesheet type = "text/xsl" href = "students.xsl"?>
<class>
<student rollno = "393">
<firstname>Dinkar</firstname>
<lastname>Kad</lastname>
<nickname>Dinkar</nickname>
<marks>85</marks>
</student>
<student rollno = "493">
<firstname>Vaneet</firstname>
<lastname>Gupta</lastname>
<nickname>Vinni</nickname>
<marks>95</marks>
</student>
<student rollno = "593">
<firstname>Jasvir</firstname>
<lastname>Singh</lastname>
<nickname>Jazz</nickname>
<marks>90</marks>
</student>
</class>
students.xsl
<?xml version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version = "1.0"
xmlns:xsl = "http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:template match = "/">
<html>
<body>
<h3>Details of each Students. Xpath expression = "/class/*"</h3>
<table border = "1">
<tr bgcolor = "#9acd32">
<th>Roll No</th>
<th>First Name</th>
<th>Last Name</th>
<th>Nick Name</th>
<th>Marks</th>
</tr>
<xsl:for-each select = "/class/*">
<tr>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "@rollno"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "firstname"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "lastname"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "nickname"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "marks"/></td>
</tr>
</xsl:for-each>
</table>
<h3>Details of each Students. Xpath expression = "/class/student"</h3>
<table border = "1">
<tr bgcolor = "#9acd32">
<th>Roll No</th>
<th>First Name</th>
<th>Last Name</th>
<th>Nick Name</th>
<th>Marks</th>
</tr>
<xsl:for-each select = "/class/student">
<tr>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "@rollno"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "firstname"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "lastname"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "nickname"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "marks"/></td>
</tr>
</xsl:for-each>
</table>
<h3>Details of each Students. Xpath expression = "//student"</h3>
<table border = "1">
<tr bgcolor = "#9acd32">
<th>Roll No</th>
<th>First Name</th>
<th>Last Name</th>
<th>Nick Name</th>
<th>Marks</th>
</tr>
<xsl:for-each select = "//student">
<tr>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "@rollno"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "firstname"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "lastname"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "nickname"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "marks"/></td>
</tr>
</xsl:for-each>
</table>
</body>
</html>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>
Verify the output
3. XPath – Text Node
Text can be easily retrieved and checked by using the name of the element.
name − get the text value of node “name”.
<td><xsl:value-of select = "firstname"/></td>
Text can be used to compared using operators.
marks > 85 − get the text value of node “marks” and compare with a value.
<xsl:if test = "marks > 85">
Example
In this example, we’ve created a sample XML document students.xml and its stylesheet document students.xsl which uses the XPath expressions.
Following is the sample XML used.
students.xml
<?xml version = "1.0"?>
<?xml-stylesheet type = "text/xsl" href = "students.xsl"?>
<class>
<student rollno = "393">
<firstname>Dinkar</firstname>
<lastname>Kad</lastname>
<nickname>Dinkar</nickname>
<marks>85</marks>
</student>
<student rollno = "493">
<firstname>Vaneet</firstname>
<lastname>Gupta</lastname>
<nickname>Vinni</nickname>
<marks>95</marks>
</student>
<student rollno = "593">
<firstname>Jasvir</firstname>
<lastname>Singh</lastname>
<nickname>Jazz</nickname>
<marks>90</marks>
</student>
</class>
students.xsl
<?xml version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version = "1.0"
xmlns:xsl = "http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:template match = "/">
<html>
<body>
<h3>Details of each Students. Xpath expression = "/class/student"</h3>
<table border = "1">
<tr bgcolor = "#9acd32">
<th>Roll No</th>
<th>First Name</th>
<th>Last Name</th>
<th>Nick Name</th>
<th>Marks</th>
</tr>
<xsl:for-each select = "/class/student">
<tr>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "@rollno"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "firstname"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "lastname"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "nickname"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "marks"/></td>
</tr>
</xsl:for-each>
</table>
<h3>Details of each Students whose marks are greater than 85.
Xpath expression = "marks > 85"</h3>
<table border = "1">
<tr bgcolor = "#9acd32">
<th>Roll No</th>
<th>First Name</th>
<th>Last Name</th>
<th>Nick Name</th>
<th>Marks</th>
</tr>
<xsl:for-each select = "//student">
<xsl:if test = "marks > 85">
<tr>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "@rollno"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "firstname"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "lastname"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "nickname"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "marks"/></td>
</tr>
</xsl:if>
</xsl:for-each>
</table>
</body>
</html>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>
Verify the output
4. XPath – Attribute Node
This attribute can be easily retrieved and checked by using the @attribute-name of the element.
@name − get the value of attribute “name”.
<td><xsl:value-of select = "@rollno"/></td>
Attribute can be used to compared using operators.
@rollno = 493 − get the text value of attribute “rollno” and compare with a value.
<xsl:if test = "@rollno = 493">
Example
In this example, we’ve created a sample XML document students.xml and its stylesheet document students.xsl which uses the XPath expressions.
Following is the sample XML used.
students.xml
<?xml version = "1.0"?>
<?xml-stylesheet type = "text/xsl" href = "students.xsl"?>
<class>
<student rollno = "393">
<firstname>Dinkar</firstname>
<lastname>Kad</lastname>
<nickname>Dinkar</nickname>
<marks>85</marks>
</student>
<student rollno = "493">
<firstname>Vaneet</firstname>
<lastname>Gupta</lastname>
<nickname>Vinni</nickname>
<marks>95</marks>
</student>
<student rollno = "593">
<firstname>Jasvir</firstname>
<lastname>Singh</lastname>
<nickname>Jazz</nickname>
<marks>90</marks>
</student>
</class>
students.xsl
<?xml version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version = "1.0"
xmlns:xsl = "http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:template match = "/">
<html>
<body>
<h3>Details of each Students. Xpath expression = "/class/student"</h3>
<table border = "1">
<tr bgcolor = "#9acd32">
<th>Roll No</th>
<th>First Name</th>
<th>Last Name</th>
<th>Nick Name</th>
<th>Marks</th>
</tr>
<xsl:for-each select = "/class/student">
<tr>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "@rollno"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "firstname"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "lastname"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "nickname"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "marks"/></td>
</tr>
</xsl:for-each>
</table>
<h3>Details of Student whose roll no is 493. Xpath expression = "@rollno = 493"</h3>
<table border = "1">
<tr bgcolor = "#9acd32">
<th>Roll No</th>
<th>First Name</th>
<th>Last Name</th>
<th>Nick Name</th>
<th>Marks</th>
</tr>
<xsl:for-each select = "//student">
<xsl:if test = "@rollno = 493">
<tr>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "@rollno"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "firstname"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "lastname"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "nickname"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "marks"/></td>
</tr>
</xsl:if>
</xsl:for-each>
</table>
</body>
</html>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>
Verify the output
5. XPath – Comment Node
Comment can be easily retrieved of the element.
comment() − get the value of attribute “name”.
<xsl:value-of select = "/class/student/preceding-sibling::comment()"/>
Example
In this example, we’ve created a sample XML document students.xml and its stylesheet document students.xsl which uses the XPath expressions.
Following is the sample XML used.
students.xml
<?xml version = "1.0"?>
<?xml-stylesheet type = "text/xsl" href="students.xsl"?>
<class>
<!-- Comment: This is a list of student -->
<student rollno = "393">
<firstname>Dinkar</firstname>
<lastname>Kad</lastname>
<nickname>Dinkar</nickname>
<marks>85</marks>
</student>
<student rollno = "493">
<firstname>Vaneet</firstname>
<lastname>Gupta</lastname>
<nickname>Vinni</nickname>
<marks>95</marks>
</student>
<student rollno = "593">
<firstname>Jasvir</firstname>
<lastname>Singh</lastname>
<nickname>Jazz</nickname>
<marks>90</marks>
</student>
</class>
students.xsl
<?xml version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version = "1.0"
xmlns:xsl = "http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:template match = "/">
<html>
<body>
<h3>Comment(). Xpath expression = "/class/student/preceding-sibling::comment()"</h3>
<xsl:value-of select = "/class/student/preceding-sibling::comment()"/>
<table border = "1">
<tr bgcolor = "#9acd32">
<th>Roll No</th>
<th>First Name</th>
<th>Last Name</th>
<th>Nick Name</th>
<th>Marks</th>
</tr>
<xsl:for-each select = "/class/student">
<tr>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "@rollno"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "firstname"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "lastname"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "nickname"/></td>
<td><xsl:value-of select = "marks"/></td>
</tr>
</xsl:for-each>
</table>
</body>
</html>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>
Verify the output
