XPath tutorial

Combining several paths

Several paths can be combined with | separator.

Example 1

XPath Expression: Select all elements CCC and BBB
//CCC | //BBB
XML:
<?xml version="1.0">
     <AAA>
          <BBB/>
          <CCC/>
          <DDD>
               <CCC/>
          </DDD>
          <EEE/>
     </AAA>

Example 2

XPath Expression: Select all elements BBB and elements EEE which are children of root element AAA

/AAA/EEE | //BBB
XML:
<?xml version="1.0">
     <AAA>
          <BBB/>
          <CCC/>
          <DDD>
               <CCC/>
          </DDD>
          <EEE/>
     </AAA>

Example 3

XPath Expression: Number of combinations is not restricted

/AAA/EEE | //DDD/CCC | /AAA | //BBB
XML:
<?xml version="1.0">
     <AAA>
          <BBB/>
          <CCC/>
          <DDD>
               <CCC/>
          </DDD>
          <EEE/>
     </AAA>
C# code:
// BasicSyntax - /xpath/basicsyntax.cs
// Copyright 2003 by Johannes Roith

using System;
using System.Xml.XPath;

class BasicSyntax {
        static void Main() {
                
        }

}