PackageDescription: SimpleXPath


Simple X Path

Last published: March 26, 2013 by 'stm'

Defines 23 Classes
Extends 31 Classes


Simple XPath is an XML query library based on a subset of the XPath 1.0 language. It provides a handy API to construct paths and a parser for abbreviated XPath location paths without predicates.

See also: http://www.w3.org/TR/xpath/.

I. NodeSets
-----------------
The result of constructing a path or parsing an XPath location path is a NodeSet. If applied to an XML node, a NodeSet provides access to the nodes selected by this set.
1. Call #contextNode: to define the node a NodeSet is applied to.
2. Call
#nodes to get a set of all matched nodes,
#nodesDo: with a one argument block to iterate over all matched nodes and
#selectNodes: with a one argument block to select some of the matched nodes.
If you are working with tags that have prefixed names, ensure that you resolve the associated namespace before using a NodeSet.
Call >>#resolveNamespaces: with a dictionary that maps all prefixes to their namespace.

II. Path construction API:
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To construct a path programmatically, use the Axis classes and the methods from the protocol "path construction".
1. Single path steps:
ChildAxis ? 'name'. "select all child nodes tagged with 'name'"
ChildAxis ? ('prefix' + 'name'). "select all child nodes tagged with 'prefix:name'"
AttributeAxis ? 'id'. "select all attribute nodes tagged with 'id'"

SelfAxis ? AnyNodeTest. "select the context node itself"
DescendantOrSelfAxis ? CommentTest. "select all descendant comment nodes"

2. Concatenate steps with #/ :
(ChildAxis ? 'name') / (ChildAxis ? ('second' + 'name')).
(ChildAxis ? AnyNodeTest) / (AttributeAxis ? 'id').

"Often, the axis can be omitted:"
'name' / ('second' + 'name'). "same as"
(ChildAxis ? 'name') / (ChildAxis ? ('second' + 'name')).
AnyNodeTest / (AttributeAxis ? 'id'). "same as"
(ChildAxis ? AnyNodeTest) / (AttributeAxis ? 'id').

"Similar to XPath, #/@, #// and #//@ abbreviate attribute and descendant-or-self steps:"
AnyNodeTest /@ 'id'. "same as"
(ChildAxis ? AnyNodeTest) / (AttributeAxis ? 'id').
'name' // CommentTest. "same as"
(ChildAxis ? 'name') / (DescendantOrSelfAxis ? AnyNodeTest) / (ChildAxis ? CommentTest).
'name' //@ 'id'. "same as"
(ChildAxis ? 'name') / (DescendantOrSelfAxis ? AnyNodeTest) / (AttributeAxis ? 'id').

3. Query from the document root with a RootStep:
RootStep // AnyNodeTest. "all nodes"
RootStep //@ 'id'. "id of each node"

4. Create the union of two NodeSets with #| :
(RootStep // 'element') | (RootStep // CommentTest).

"#\@ abbreviates the union with an attribute step:"
CommentTest \@ 'id'. "same as"
(ChildAxis ? CommentTest) | (AttributeAxis ? 'id').

5. The wildcards # and * match single and multiple characters in local tag names:
ChildAxis ? 'name_##'. "selects e.g. "
AttributeAxis ? '*_id'. "selects e.g. ... svg_id='0x5' ..."
"NOTE: XPath allows * only for the whole tag name, e.g. //prefix:* "

III. Parser API:
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To parse an abbreviated XPath location path, use SimpleXPathParser. However, predicate expressions are not supported.
Call
#parseString: with the XPath string to parse that string and obtain a NodeSet and
#validateString: to check whether the string is free of syntax errors.
If parsing fails, a SyntaxError is raised that gives the error position and a brief description.