Ian's books
| CPU Magazine
Core XML: The XPath Language (Part 1)
As described in the November 2002 issue of CPU - Computer Power User magazine.
Examples
- demo.xml -- The simple example XML document used to
demonstrate XPath expressions. A plain text listing is also available at
demo.txt.
- test1.xsl -- The simple XSLT stylesheet that processes
an XML document and displays a list of element nodes that are referenced by the
given XPath expression. The 'HowTo Play' section below explains how to use these
documents to play with XPath expressions. A plain text listing of this document is
also available at test1.txt.
HOWTO: Using the Style sheet and Demo to play with XPath
To play with the example XML document and style sheet you need an XML editor
that supports XSLT. THere are many that do: a good list
is found at http://www.xslt.com/xslt_tools_editors.html.
Recommendation: XRay XML Editor --
One of my favourites Windows tools is a simple, free XML and XSLT editor
named XRay, available from Architag, at
http://www.architag.com/xray.
This editor lets you use a simple menu to select an XML document and an XSLT stylesheet,
and then pops up a third window showing the results of the XSLT transformation.
The best part is that shows this result in real time -- the output changes instantaneneously
as you edit the XML or XSLT! It's a great way to try out different XPath expressions, and
see quickly and easily the results.
Online and Downloadable XPath Tutorials and References
Books covering XPath (and XSLT)
- Downloadable and print-format: Practical Transformation Using XSLT and XPath, from Crane Softwrights, Ltd, at
http://www.cranesoftwrights.com/training/
- XSLT, by Doug Tidwell, O'Reilly and Associates, 2001
- XSLT Programmers Reference, Second Edition, by Michael Kay, Wrox, 2001
- XSLT and XPATH: A Guide to XML Transformations , by John Robert Gardner and Zarella L. Rendon, Prentice-Hall, 2001