use of following-sibling

[apicard]

I have a simple document like this:

<Accept>
<XXXX/>
<Token image="From"/>
<Date value="2007-01-01"/>
<Token image="To"/>
<Date value="2007-01-01"/>
</Accept>

where i want to get the date element following the to token. (from and
to are both optional, so it cannot be only position relative)

I am using the following query: "child::Tok en[fn:upper-
case(@image)='T O']/following-sibling::*"
but my problem is that it's always returning me the token and the date
element. I would have expected to only get the date element.

For now i changed it to: "child::Tok en[fn:upper-case(@image)='F ROM']/
following-sibling::*[2]" and that works, but I feel like I am missing
something here.

Please help.
Thanks
Alain

[Joe Kesselman]

I am using the following query: "child::Tok en[fn:upper-

case(@image)='T O']/following-sibling::*"
but my problem is that it's always returning me the token and the date
element. I would have expected to only get the date element.

The following sibling axis returns all following siblings, unless you
specify which one you want -- by name, by position, or by some other
criterion.

If you want the single Date most closely following the FROM Token, try
"child::Tok en[fn:upper-case(@image)='F ROM']/following-sibling::Date[1]"

XSLT is a programming language. If you're fuzzy about what you ask for,
you get back fuzzy results.

--
() ASCII Ribbon Campaign | Joe Kesselman
/\ Stamp out HTML e-mail! | System architexture and kinetic poetry

[Richard Tobin]

In article <Wq************ *************** ***@comcast.com >,
Joe Kesselman <ke************ @comcast.netwro te:

>I am using the following query: "child::Tok en[fn:upper-
case(@image)=' TO']/following-sibling::*"
but my problem is that it's always returning me the token and the date
element. I would have expected to only get the date element.

>The following sibling axis returns all following siblings, unless you
specify which one you want -- by name, by position, or by some other
criterion.

Yes, but given the OP's example:

<Accept>
<XXXX/>
<Token image="From"/>
<Date value="2007-01-01"/>
<Token image="To"/>
<Date value="2007-01-01"/>
</Accept>

the Token element with @image=To only has one following-sibling
element. His expression should therefore return only the final Date
element.

-- Richard
--
"Considerat ion shall be given to the need for as many as 32 characters
in some alphabets" - X3.4, 1963.

[Joe Kesselman]

Richard Tobin wrote:

Yes, but given the OP's example:

You're right, I was reading in a hurry, as well entangling his two
sketched soltuions. (Sorry; negotiating on a house and somewhat
distracted.) Lemme recheck...

<Accept>
<XXXX/>
<Token image="From"/>
<Date value="2007-01-01"/>
<Token image="To"/>
<Date value="2007-01-01"/>
</Accept>

>"child::Toke n[fn:upper- case(@image)='T O']/following-sibling::*"

In this particular example, that should return the second Date. If there
are any other elements following the "TO" token, they will also be
returned. Given the <XXXX/>, I presume this is a simplified example, and
thus I presume he'd be better off limiting it.

"child::Tok en[fn:upper- case(@image)='T O']/following-sibling::*[1]"
indeed ought to work, to return the first following sibling element.
(though I'd still suggest explicitly using "child::Tok en[fn:upper-
case(@image)='T O']/following-sibling::Date[1]")

His workaround, "child::Tok en[fn:upper-case(@image)='F ROM']/
following-sibling::*[2]", SHOULDN'T work -- that should be returning the
"TO" token, not the date, assuming the description of the input is
correct. He claims it does work, which suggests that either the XPath
implementation he's using is broken or that the input isn't actually as
shown.

I may still be half-asleep and distracted and incoherent; apologies if
so... but there's something here I'm missing.
(This is why associated data should generally be grouped as
parent-child, or in a higher-level wrapper, or as attributes on a single
element, rather than counting on the order.)

--
() ASCII Ribbon Campaign | Joe Kesselman
/\ Stamp out HTML e-mail! | System architexture and kinetic poetry

[apicard]

Sorry I see a few inconsistencies in my example Like from instead of
to in the query.

But, first I learned that following sibling returns all the following
siblings, thanks.

But, my working example ""child::To ken[fn:upper-case(@image)='T O']/
following-sibling::*[2]", is still problematic from what i understand
here, since the element Token with the selected attribute image of
"TO" shouldn't be selected as a sibling of itself and have to be
filtered. Am I getting this part right?

BTW, the reason that I am using a start after the following-sibling,
is that in the real world the next element following the from or to
token, can be one of about 4 different element names.

I am using Saxon as my XQuery processor.

[Richard Tobin]

In article <11************ **********@q69g 2000hsb.googleg roups.com>,
<ap*****@benchm arkconsulting.c omwrote:

>I am using Saxon as my XQuery processor.

It would be useful if you could reproduce your example as a short XML
file and stylesheet that others can run. Then we can see if it's a bug
in Saxon.

-- Richard
--
"Considerat ion shall be given to the need for as many as 32 characters
in some alphabets" - X3.4, 1963.

[Martin Honnen]

ap*****@benchma rkconsulting.co m wrote:

But, my working example ""child::To ken[fn:upper-case(@image)='T O']/
following-sibling::*[2]", is still problematic from what i understand
here, since the element Token with the selected attribute image of
"TO" shouldn't be selected as a sibling of itself and have to be
filtered. Am I getting this part right?

BTW, the reason that I am using a start after the following-sibling,
is that in the real world the next element following the from or to
token, can be one of about 4 different element names.

I am using Saxon as my XQuery processor.

With the XML being your original sample

<Accept>
<XXXX/>
<Token image="From"/>
<Date value="2007-01-01"/>
<Token image="To"/>
<Date value="2007-01-01"/>
</Accept>

and the XQuery expression being

/Accept/child::Token[fn:upper-case(@image)='T O']/following-sibling::*

Saxon 8.9 returns

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Date value="2007-01-01"/>

for me which is only the Date element so it returns what you are looking
for.

I have run the Java version of Saxon from the command line.

--

Martin Honnen
http://JavaScript.FAQTs.com/

[Joseph Kesselman]

ap*****@benchma rkconsulting.co m wrote:

"TO" shouldn't be selected as a sibling of itself and have to be
filtered. Am I getting this part right?

That's correct. It sounds like either you aren't running the code/data
you think you are, or there's a bug in the processor.
--
Joe Kesselman / Beware the fury of a patient man. -- John Dryden

[apicard]

Well, thanks everyone for your help and my apologies about to Saxon.

We are running Saxon with a wrapper implementation that feeds it nodes
and items from an underlying object tree structure, instead of from
XML. We have been using this layer for over 2 years without problems,
but we are now starting to get more creative in our queries and have
uncovered found a bug in the list that iterateAxis() was returning for
following siblings.

Alain

[Joseph Kesselman]

ap*****@benchma rkconsulting.co m wrote:

uncovered found a bug in the list that iterateAxis() was returning for
following siblings.

Been there, done that, for a large portion of Xalan's internal DTM model
and adapters thereunto. <smile/>

(This is another reason we so often ask for runnable stand-alone
examples that will demonstrate the problem -- it's a good way to rule
out things other than the XPath/XSLT itself.)

--
Joe Kesselman / Beware the fury of a patient man. -- John Dryden