XPath Node Test
In the previous lesson we saw an example of a node test. We used the node test in our expression when selecting a node from our XML document.
In this lesson, we'll look into node tests a little more closely.
Node Test Syntax
To refresh our memory, a node test is part of an expression to retrieve one or more nodes. Here's where a node test goes within our expression:
axis::node_test
If you have one or more predicates, your node test comes before the predicate/s:
axis::node_test[predicate/s]
Node Test Example
In the following example, "title" is the node test:
child::title
More Node Tests
Apart from using the name of a node or a wildcard (to select unknown nodes), you can also use the following node tests:
| Node Test | Description |
|---|---|
| comment() | Selects nodes that are comments. |
| node() | Selects nodes of any type. |
| processing-instruction() | Selects nodes that are processing instructions. You can specify which processing instruction to select by providing it's name in the parentheses. |
| text() | Selects a text node. |