XPath to select element based on childs child value

Question

Trying to select an element based on the value of one of it's childrens childrens

Thinking the following but not working, appreciate any help, thanks

./book[/author/name = 'John'] or

./book[/author/name text() = 'John']

Want all books where the author name = 'John'

Xml file

<list>
   <book>
      <author>
         <name>John</name>
         <number>4324234</number>
      </author>
      <title>New Book</title>
      <isbn>dsdaassda</isbn>
   </book>
   <book>...</book>
   <book>...</book>
</list>

score 328 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 13 '12 at 11:31

328

Almost there. In your predicate, you want a relative path, so change

./book[/author/name = 'John']

to either

./book[author/name = 'John']

or

./book[./author/name = 'John']

and you will match your element. Your current predicate goes back to the root of the document to look for an author.

answered Mar 13 '12 at 11:31

AakashM

59,217
16
147
181

2

Without `.` didn't work for me (needed `./author/name`) – MichaelChirico Oct 11 '18 at 06:03
Is it possible to use this syntax in a function? Eg, how to implement something such as `./book[contains(author/name, "John")]`? – Just a learner Oct 22 '18 at 11:00
2

@OgrishMan new questions should go in [New Question](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/ask), but before that I'd just try it! Generally you want single quotes `'` rather than double quotes `"` for string literals in xpath, by the way. – AakashM Oct 22 '18 at 12:25

XPath to select element based on childs child value

1 Answers1

Linked