XPath Tutorial

XPath is a language used to find information in XML documents. XPath is used to navigate through elements and attributes in XML documents.

Knowledge that should be possessed before learning:

Before you continue learning, you should have a basic understanding of the following knowledge:

  • HTML / XHTML
  • XML / XML Namespace

If you wish to learn these projects first, please visit our Home Page Access these tutorials.

What is XPath?

  • XPath uses path expressions to navigate within XML documents
  • XPath includes a standard function library
  • XPath is the main element in XSLT
  • XPath is a W3C standard

XPath Path Expressions

XPath uses path expressions to select nodes or node sets in an XML document. These path expressions are very similar to the expressions we see in regular computer file systems.

XPath Standard Functions

XPath contains more than 100 built-in functions. These functions are used for string values, numerical values, date and time comparisons, node and QName processing, sequence processing, logical values, and more.

XPath is used in XSLT

XPath is the main element in the XSLT standard. Without knowledge of XPath, you cannot create an XSLT document.

You can find more information about XPath standards in our《XSLT TutorialRead more content in the

XQuery and XPointer are both built on top of XPath expressions. XQuery 1.0 and XPath 2.0 share the same data model and support the same functions and operators.

You can find more information about XPath standards in our《XQuery TutorialRead more about XQuery in the

XPath is a W3C standard

XPath became a W3C standard on November 16, 1999.

XPath is designed for use with XSLT, XPointer, and other XML parsing software.

You can find more information about XPath standards in our《W3C TutorialsRead more about XPath standards in the section '》'.