Using XPath with node attributes

Question

I have the very basics of XPaths down, but am having some trouble in determining if the following is possible in C# code using an XPath (or if I need to move it out into other code, as I currently have done).

I have an XML Document that consists of the following structure:

 <xml>
     <parameters>
        <setParameter name="SomeName" value="SomeValue" />
     </parameters>
 </xml>

Where there are multiple set Parameter values. Now what I need to do is only retrieve those setParameter nodes that contain certain values for the name attribute. I may have a list of possible matches for these values, but they won't be full matches, they will be values the node's name attribute must contain.

For example in the structure code above, if I had a value of 'men' to match, it would come back with the node, as 'men' is contained in 'SomeName'

What is the shorthand to do this?

do you have an xpath example? – eLRuLL Feb 13 '17 at 16:35 — eLRuLL, Feb 13 '17 at 16:35
very simple at: "parameters/setParameter" – Marshall Tigerus Feb 13 '17 at 16:36 — Marshall Tigerus, Feb 13 '17 at 16:36

Kilazur · Accepted Answer · 2017-02-13T16:40:19.287

1

Retrieving the value of all attributes named value for all elements named setParameter having a name attribute's value containing men:

//setParameter[contains(@name, 'men')]/@value

//setParameter

Retrieves all nodes named setParameter (can be replaced with /xml/parameters/setParameter)

[...]

Checks an attribute for the current node selection

contains(@name, 'men')

Returns true if the name attribute's value contains men

/@value

Retrieves the value attribute's value.

edited Feb 13 '17 at 16:40

answered Feb 13 '17 at 16:14

Kilazur

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Is this case-insensitive? – Polyfun Feb 13 '17 at 16:42
@Polyfun No, it's case sensitive. See [this answer](http://stackoverflow.com/a/9805020/3283203) for case-insensitiveness. – Kilazur Feb 13 '17 at 16:44
OP wanted a case-insensitive match. – Polyfun Feb 13 '17 at 17:00
@Polyfun I must be sleepy, but I don't see this requirement. – Kilazur Feb 14 '17 at 08:16

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 13 '17 at 16:42

0

I don't think there is a way to match an attribute with a wildcard, but you could use the contains method, something like:

//parameters/setParameter[contains(@name, "stringexample")]

answered Feb 13 '17 at 16:42

eLRuLL

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score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 13 '17 at 16:54

Depending on your XPath version this might work or might not:

//setParameter[matches(@name,"men", "i") or matches(@name,"else", "i")]

This should match <setParameter> with name attribute that contains "men" or something "else". It is case-insensitive

Try and let me know the result

Using XPath with node attributes

3 Answers3