XPath - Node Functions

XPath defines the following operators on nodes to be used with the XPath expressions.

S.No. Operator & Description
1

/

used to select node under a specific node.
2

//

used to select node from root node
3

[...]

used to check node value
4

|

used for union of two node sets

XPath defines the following functions on nodes to be used with the XPath expressions.

S.No. Function & Description
1

comment()

selects nodes which are comments.
2

node()

selects all kinds of nodes.
3

processing-instruction()

selects nodes which are processing instruction.
4

text()

selects a text node.
5

name()

provides the name of the node.
6

position()

provides the position of the node.
7

last()

selects the last node relative to current node;

Example

This example creates a table of <student> element with their details, by iterating over each student. It calculates the position of the student node then prints the student(s) details along with serial no.

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>
            <h2>Students</h2>
				
            <table border = "1">
               <tr bgcolor = "#9acd32">
                  <th>Serial No</th>
                  <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 = "position()"/></td>
                     <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

Formatted Node Operator Output
xpath_operators.htm
Kickstart Your Career

Get certified by completing the course

Get Started
Advertisements