XPath Functions
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4/8/2010
XML Path Language (XPath) functions are used to evaluate expressions.
Each function in the function library is specified using a function prototype that gives the return type, function name, and argument type. If an argument type is followed by a question mark, the argument is optional; otherwise, the argument is required. Function names are case-sensitive.
The following table shows the function groups used by XPath.
| Function group | Description |
|---|---|
Performs evaluations, formatting, and manipulation on string arguments. |
|
Evaluates the argument expressions to obtain a numeric result. |
|
Evaluates the argument expressions to obtain a Boolean result. |
|
Takes a node-setargument, returns a node set, or returns/provides information about a particular node within a node set. |
|
Additions to the core XPath function library. |
Examples
Find all text children of author elements.
author/text()
Find all elements that have text node or CDATA node children.
*[text()]
Find the last author for each book.
book/author[last()]