XPath Axes

XML Example Document

We will use the following XML document in the examples below:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<bookstore>

<book>
  <title lang="en">Harry Potter</title>
  <price>29.99</price>
</book>

<book>
  <title lang="en">Learning XML</title>
  <price>39.95</price>
</book>

</bookstore>

XPath Axes

Axes define a set of nodes relative to the current node.

Axis Name	Result
ancestor	Selects all ancestors (parent, grandparent, etc.) of the current node.
ancestor-or-self	Selects all ancestors (parent, grandparent, etc.) of the current node and the current node itself.
attribute	Selects all attributes of the current node.
child	Selects all child elements of the current node.
descendant	Selects all descendant elements (children, grandchildren, etc.) of the current node.
descendant-or-self	Selects all descendant elements (children, grandchildren, etc.) of the current node and the current node itself.
following	Selects all nodes that appear after the end tag of the current node in the document.
following-sibling	Selects all sibling nodes that follow the current node.
namespace	Selects all namespace nodes of the current node.
parent	Selects the parent node of the current node.
preceding	Selects all nodes that appear before the start tag of the current node in the document.
preceding-sibling	Selects all sibling nodes that precede the current node.
self	Selects the current node.

❮ Xpath Operators Xpath Syntax ❯