Select on multiple criteria with XPath

Question

I have an XML document which looks something like this:

<meadinkent>  <record>   <comp_div>MENSWEAR</comp_div>    <sty_ret_type>ACCESSORIES</sty_ret_type>    <sty_pdt_type>BELTS</sty_pdt_type>    <pdt_category>AWESOME_BELTS</pdt_category>    </record> <medinkent> 

I want to useXPath to select nodes which match all four elements and I'm having trouble getting the boolean syntax right. I'm trying this to match the first two just as a test:

"/meadinkent/record/comp_div[.='" & comp_div & "'] and /meadinkent/record/sty_ret_type[.='" & sty_ret_type & "']" 

Which is failing, saying no nodes are returned. Obviously I'm being very stupid - what am I doing wrong?

Cheers, mAtt

Answer 1

Union
In order to get both nodes you need to use union operator - |

For example, the next query will return both type of nodes - comp_div and sty_ret_type:

/meadinkent/record/comp_div | /meadinkent/record/sty_ret_type 

Filter by sub-nodes values
In order to filter node based on its sub-nodes values you need to place all conditions in same brackets [nodeA='value1' and nodeB='value2']

For example, the next query will return record nodes whose sub nodes match the filter:

/meadinkent/record[comp_div='MENSWEAR' and sty_ret_type='ACCESSORIES'] 

A C# union example:

[Test] public void UnionExample() {     string xml =         @"<meadinkent>             <record>                 <comp_div>MENSWEAR</comp_div>                  <sty_ret_type>ACCESSORIES</sty_ret_type>                  <sty_pdt_type>BELTS</sty_pdt_type>                  <pdt_category>AWESOME_BELTS</pdt_category>             </record>           </meadinkent>";      XDocument xDocument = XDocument.Parse(xml);     IEnumerable<XElement> selectedElements =         xDocument.XPathSelectElements(                 "/meadinkent/record/comp_div | /meadinkent/record/sty_ret_type");      Assert.That(selectedElements.Count(), Is.EqualTo(2)); } 

A C# filter by sub-nodes example:

[Test] public void FilterExample() {     string xml =         @"<meadinkent>             <record>                 <comp_div>MENSWEAR</comp_div>                  <sty_ret_type>ACCESSORIES</sty_ret_type>                  <sty_pdt_type>BELTS</sty_pdt_type>                  <pdt_category>AWESOME_BELTS</pdt_category>             </record>           </meadinkent>";      XDocument xDocument = XDocument.Parse(xml);     IEnumerable<XElement> selectedElements =         xDocument.XPathSelectElements(        "/meadinkent/record[comp_div='MENSWEAR' and sty_ret_type='ACCESSORIES']");      Assert.That(selectedElements.Count(), Is.EqualTo(1));     Assert.That(selectedElements.First().Name.LocalName, Is.EqualTo("record")); }