Why can't I select the desired node using this PHP Xpath expression?

It is strongly advised that you upgrade to a recent stable build and enjoy all of the improvements that would come with it. Now that that's over with, the reason why your code is not working is precisely because such an old version of SimpleXML does not behave exactly as you expect it to The context node for the queries is not where you expect it to be (compared to saner, later versions for example). For the sake of ease of understanding, in my opinion, it would be easier for you just to use an absolute XPath Some examples that will work in your PHP 5.0.5 (and do in current versions) are: $xmlObject->xpath("/root/website/title@lang='fr'") $xmlObject->xpath(".

/website/title@lang='fr'") $xmlObject->xpath("//website/title@lang='fr'") $xmlObject->xpath("website/title@lang='fr'") To throw a spanner in the works, here's an example that is just silly (yet should work for you in 5.0.5): $xmlObject->website->menuNodes->xpath("title@lang='fr'").

It is strongly advised that you upgrade to a recent stable build and enjoy all of the improvements that would come with it. Now that that's over with, the reason why your code is not working is precisely because such an old version of SimpleXML does not behave exactly as you expect it to. The context node for the queries is not where you expect it to be (compared to saner, later versions for example).

For the sake of ease of understanding, in my opinion, it would be easier for you just to use an absolute XPath. Some examples that will work in your PHP 5.0.5 (and do in current versions) are: $xmlObject->xpath("/root/website/title@lang='fr'") $xmlObject->xpath(". /website/title@lang='fr'") $xmlObject->xpath("//website/title@lang='fr'") $xmlObject->xpath("website/title@lang='fr'") To throw a spanner in the works, here's an example that is just silly (yet should work for you in 5.0.5): $xmlObject->website->menuNodes->xpath("title@lang='fr'").

According to w3 nodename | Selects all child nodes of the named node.

Thanks for the link. If I understand correctly, starting with the nodename selects all its children and that's not what I want. Cool.

But I'm still unsure what to do. W3Schools say "// selects nodes in the document from the current node that match the selection no matter where they are". Does this mean that by using "//", I'd be starting from the 'website' node?

And if so, what if I had another 'title' element deep-down below? Would that mess things up? I'm a bit confused.

– Kerans Feb 23 '10 at 4:05.

W3Schools has a pretty good XPath tutorial which I recommend. As you mentionned in your question, if you want to select all elements anywhere in the document, you can use //title (to which you can add predicate such as @lang="fr") In XPath, // means "anywhere". If your XPath expression starts with // it means "anywhere in the document."

If it starts with a single / it means "at the root of the document. " Finally, if it doesn't start with any slash, it means "under the context node. " If you know that the structure of your tree won't change, the exact path to the element would be /root/website@id="MainWeb"/title@lang="fr" Now let's say that you plan to restructure the tree and possibly move the node under some other node.

You could say, "let's look for the node anywhere and find the node which should be its child" which in XPath would be //website@id="MainWeb"/title@lang="fr" Lastly, know that you can use the context node as the root of your search using a single dot ". " For instance, using SimpleXML, you could look for a anywhere under using $navXmlObject->website->xpath('. //title').

Thanks for this brilliant explanation, I'm beginning to see the light! One thing still eludes me : any ideas why my first try doesn't work? Basically I want to select a 'title' element only if it's a direct child of 'website' (not a grandchild and so forth).

Is that even possible? – Kerans Feb 23 '10 at 4:28 Actually, the first example works here. So either the XML file you have published isn't exactly the one you're using or you're using a bugged version of PHP or libxml.

– Josh Davis Feb 23 '10 at 7:50.

Still not working - Simplified test case Thanks for your help. Unfortunately, since many of you said that my examples worked for you, I'm going bonkers here. Using Windows 2000 PC, Apache 2.2.14, PHP 5.0.5 with SimpleXML Revision: 1.139.2.4.

Searched the PHP bugs database, came up empty. Also checked out the comment by gwhitescarver about index 0 on the manual page. Any further ideas?

My website Section XYZ XML; $xmlObject = simplexml_load_string($string); var_dump($xmlObject->website->xpath('title')); // returns array(0) { }?

Your PHP dates from 2005, that might explain it. – Josh Davis Feb 24 '10 at 12:24.

SOLVED! Upgrading to the latest version of PHP solved the issue! I completely uninstalled PHP and Apache from my system and instead used Uniform Server - a portable PHP/Apache environment (uniformserver.com/) Thanks to all for your help.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.