Extract value of attribute node via XPath

Question

How can I extract the value of an attribute node via XPath?

A sample XML file is:

<parents name='Parents'>   <Parent id='1' name='Parent_1'>     <Children name='Children'>       <child name='Child_2' id='2'>child2_Parent_1</child>       <child name='Child_4' id='4'>child4_Parent_1</child>       <child name='Child_1' id='3'>child1_Parent_1</child>       <child name='Child_3' id='1'>child3_Parent_1</child>     </Children>   </Parent>   <Parent id='2' name='Parent_2'>     <Children name='Children'>       <child name='Child_1' id='8'>child1_parent2</child>       <child name='Child_2' id='7'>child2_parent2</child>       <child name='Child_4' id='6'>child4_parent2</child>       <child name='Child_3' id='5'>child3_parent2</child>     </Children>   </Parent> </parents> 

So far I have this XPath string:

//Parent[@id='1']/Children/child[@name]   

It returns only child elements, but I would like to have the value of the name attribute.

For my sample XML file, here's what I'd like the output to be:

Child_2 Child_4 Child_1 Child_3 

Answer 1

//Parent[@id='1']/Children/child/@name  

Your original child[@name] means an element child which has an attribute name. You want child/@name.

Answer 2

To get just the value (without attribute names), use string():

string(//Parent[@id='1']/Children/child/@name)

The fn:string() fucntion will return the value of its argument as xs:string. In case its argument is an attribute, it will therefore return the attribute's value as xs:string.