XPath query

[John Smith]

Is it possible using an XPath query to select a child node and all its parents. e.g.

<a x="1">
<b x="2">
<c x="3"/>
<c x="4"/>
</b>
<b x="5">
<c x="6"/>
<c x="7"/>
</b>
</a>

I want to search for c[@x="4"] and get the the following:
<a x="1">
<b x="2">
<c x="4"/>
</b>
</a>

Is this possible?

Thanks

jon

 

[Richard Tobin]

Is this possible?

No. XPath can only return nodes that exist in the document, but you want a modified copy of some nodes. If you had an expression that returned the "a" ancestor, it would return the whole document.

-- Richard

 

[A. Bolmarcich]

Is it possible using an XPath query to select a child node and all its parents. e.g.

<a x="1">
<b x="2">
<c x="3"/>
<c x="4"/>
</b>
<b x="5">
<c x="6"/>
<c x="7"/>
</b>
</a>

I want to search for c[@x="4"] and get the the following:
<a x="1">
<b x="2">
<c x="4"/>
</b>
</a>

Is this possible?

The value of the XPath expression

c[@x="4"]/ancestor-or-self::*

is a node set that contains the elements that you want.

 

[Chris Huebsch]

A. Bolmarcich (Tue, 08 Jun 2004 14:44:27 -0000):

The value of the XPath expression

c[@x="4"]/ancestor-or-self::*

is a node set that contains the elements that you want.

Does it? I think the result-set will look like that:

<c x="4"/>
<b x="2">
<c x="3"/>
<c x="4"/>
</b>
<a x="1">
<b x="2">
<c x="3"/>
<c x="4"/>
</b>
<b x="5">
<c x="6"/>
<c x="7"/>
</b>
</a>

Chris

 

[A. Bolmarcich]

A. Bolmarcich (Tue, 08 Jun 2004 14:44:27 -0000):

The value of the XPath expression

c[@x="4"]/ancestor-or-self::*

is a node set that contains the elements that you want.

Does it? I think the result-set will look like that:

[snip]

As I wrote, it "contains the elements that you want". It does not contain a tree consisting of only those elements. A program that uses the results of this XPath expression can construct a tree consisting only those elements.

 

[Chris Huebsch]

A. Bolmarcich (Tue, 08 Jun 2004 21:07:54 -0000):

As I wrote, it "contains the elements that you want". It does not contain a tree consisting of only those elements. A program that uses the results of this XPath expression can construct a tree consisting only those elements.

Ok. If he has to use an other program, then he might simply use c[@x="4"] and then use the parent-node-reference of each element recursively towards the documentNode.

Chris