Select first instance only with XPath?
Solution 1
/descendant::dupe_node[1]
//dupe_node[1]
is generally wrong, although it produces an identical result in this particular case. See docs:
The location path //para[1] does not mean the same as the location path /descendant::para[1]. The latter selects the first descendant para element; the former selects all descendant para elements that are the first para children of their parents.
Given the following XML:
<foo>
<bar/>
<foo>
<bar/>
</foo>
</foo>
//bar[1]
will produce two nodes, because both bars are first children of their respective parents.
/descendant::bar[1]
will give only one node, which is the first of all the bars in the document.
Solution 2
//dupe_node[1]
XPath counts from 1, not 0 in this case. You can use this tool to try things out in your browser:
http://www.xmlme.com/XpathTool.aspx?mid=82
Solution 3
//dupe_node[1]
Mat
Updated on March 21, 2020Comments
-
Mat over 4 years
I am parsing some XML something like this:
<root> <some_gunk/> <dupe_node> ... stuff I want ... </dupe_node> <bits_and_pieces/> <other_gunk/> <dupe_node> ... stuff I don't want ... </dupe_node> <more_gunk/> </root>
An XPath of
'//dupe_node'
will give me two instances ofdupe_node
to play with. I only want to traverse the first. Can I do this with XPath? -
xr280xr over 11 yearsSo how do you write it if you want the first node that is a descendant or self? /descendant::dupe_node[1] excludes self right?