     |
XPath uses a similar pattern as used by Unix to identify directories and files.
Use '/' to specify the root of the XML Document (like it is used in Unix to identify the root of the file system).
/bookstore/book
Returns all elements with the name 'book' that have as root an element with the name 'bookstore'.
Use '.' to address the current context element (axis).
./book
./*
When the context is '/bookstore', this returns respectively all elements with the name book and all bookstore child elements.
Use '//' to specify any descendant element or the context element.
.//book
Returns all descendant elements or the context element with the name 'book'.
Use the '*' wildcard to match any element (or attribute).
/bookstore/*
Returns all elements that have as root an element with the name 'bookstore'.
A context node can be defined for an XPath expression, this forces the XPath expression to be evaluated from the context node's location.
book
*
When the context is '/bookstore', this returns respectively all child elements with the name book and all bookstore child elements.
Use '..' to address a context's parent element (axis).
../book
../*
When the context is '/bookstore/book', this returns respectively all elements with the name book and all bookstore child elements.
Use '@' to specify an attribute.
//book/@isbn
//book/@*
The first expression returns all isbn attributes specified on book elements, the second returns all attributes specified on book elements.
Use '|' to specify multiple XPath expressions.
//book/@isbn | //book
Return all isbn attributes specified on book elements and return all book elements.
Use '$' to indicate a variable.
//book[@isbn=$number]
Return all book elements where the 'isbn' attribute has the value of the $number variable.