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I'm trying to write an XPath that will select certain nodes that contain a specific word. In this case the word is, "Lockwood". The correct answer is 3. Both of these paths give me 3.
count(//*[contains(./*,'Lockwood')])
count(BusinessLetter/*[contains(../*,'Lockwood')])
But when I try to output the text of each specific node
//*[contains(./*,'Lockwood')][1]
//*[contains(./*,'Lockwood')][2]
//*[contains(./*,'Lockwood')][3]
Node 1 ends up containing all the text and nodes 2 and 3 are blank.
Can some one please tell me what's happening or what I'm doing wrong.
Thanks.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="XPathFunctions.xsl"?>
<BusinessLetter>
<Head>
<SendDate>November 29, 2005</SendDate>
<Recipient>
<Name Title="Mr.">
<FirstName>Joshua</FirstName>
<LastName>Lockwood</LastName>
</Name>
<Company>Lockwood & Lockwood</Company>
<Address>
<Street>291 Broadway Ave.</Street>
<City>New York</City>
<State>NY</State>
<Zip>10007</Zip>
<Country>United States</Country>
</Address>
</Recipient>
</Head>
<Body>
<List>
<Heading>Along with this letter, I have enclosed the following items:</Heading>
<ListItem>two original, execution copies of the Webucator Master Services Agreement</ListItem>
<ListItem>two original, execution copies of the Webucator Premier Support for Developers Services Description between Lockwood & Lockwood and Webucator, Inc.</ListItem>
</List>
<Para>Please sign and return all four original, execution copies to me at your earliest convenience. Upon receipt of the executed copies, we will immediately return a fully executed, original copy of both agreements to you.</Para>
<Para>Please send all four original, execution copies to my attention as follows:
<Person>
<Name>
<FirstName>Bill</FirstName>
<LastName>Smith</LastName>
</Name>
<Address>
<Company>Webucator, Inc.</Company>
<Street>4933 Jamesville Rd.</Street>
<City>Jamesville</City>
<State>NY</State>
<Zip>13078</Zip>
<Country>USA</Country>
</Address>
</Person>
</Para>
<Para>If you have any questions, feel free to call me at <Phone>800-555-1000 x123</Phone> or e-mail me at <Email>[email protected]</Email>.</Para>
</Body>
<Foot>
<Closing>
<Name>
<FirstName>Bill</FirstName>
<LastName>Smith</LastName>
</Name>
<JobTitle>VP of Operations</JobTitle>
</Closing>
</Foot>
</BusinessLetter>
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But when I try to output the text of each specific node
//*[contains(./*,'Lockwood')][1] //*[contains(./*,'Lockwood')][2] //*[contains(./*,'Lockwood')][3]Node 1 ends up containing all the text and nodes 2 and 3 are blank
This is a FAQ.
//SomeExpression[1]
is not the equivalent to
(//someExpression)[1]
The former selects all //SomeExpression nodes that are the first child of their parent.
The latter selects the first (in document order) of all //SomeExpression nodes in the whole document.
How does this apply to your problem?
//*[contains(./*,'Lockwood')][1]
This selects all elements that have at least one child whose string value contains 'Lockwood' and that are the first such child of their parent. All three elements that have a text node containing the string 'Lockwood' are the first such child of their parents, so the result is that three elements are selected.
//*[contains(./*,'Lockwood')][2]
There is no element that has a child with string value containing the string 'Lockwood' and is the second such child of its parent. No nodes are selected.
//*[contains(./*,'Lockwood')][3]
There is no element that has a child with string value containing the string 'Lockwood' and is the third such child of its parent. No nodes are selected.
Solution:
Use:
(//*[contains(./*,'Lockwood')])[1]
(//*[contains(./*,'Lockwood')])[2]
(//*[contains(./*,'Lockwood')])[3]
Each of these selects exactly the Nth element (N = {1,2,3}) selected by //*[contains(./*,'Lockwood')], correspondingly: BusinesLetter, Recipient and Body.
Remember:
The [] operator has higher priority (precedence) than the // abbreviation.
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