XPath expression to test for empty node?

[n_o_s_p_a__m]

My xml doc has many <title></title> and <title> in it, meaning the
nodes have no content (although some do). How can I test for this?

I tried title[. is null] (doesn't work)
I tried //title[node() is null] (doesn't work)
I tried //title[text() is null] (doesn't work)
I tried //title[text() = ''] (doesn't work)

Any suggestions welcome.

Thank you,
-KJ

[KJ]

I meant (in the 2nd example) <title/>

[David Carlisle]

n_**********@mail.com writes:

My xml doc has many <title></title> and <title> in it, meaning the
nodes have no content (although some do). How can I test for this?
This is a faq you should csee the xsl-list faq at www.dpawson.co.uk

I tried title[. is null] (doesn't work) the is operator is only in XPath2 which is still in draft form
that is legal but always selects an empty sequence as it selects all
title elements that are the same node as their child <null> elements,
which can't happen.
I tried //title[node() is null] (doesn't work) That is again XPath2 only and is the same as //[null] and selects all
title elements that have a child element called null.
I tried //title[text() is null] (doesn't work)
that again is xpath2 only and is the empty sequence, it selects all
title elements which have a text node which is an element node with name
null. text nodes are never element nodes so this selects nothing.
I tried //title[text() = ''] (doesn't work) This one is valid XPath1 but selects nothing as it selects all title
elements that have a text node with value '' but text nodes are never
empty in Xpath, an empty node has no child at all, not a text node with
empty string value.

To test if the current element has no children you just need
test="not(node())"

to match on empty title elements you could do
<xsl:template match="title[not(node())]">
empty title was here
</xsl:template>

Any suggestions welcome.

Thank you,
-KJ

[Martin Honnen]

n_**********@mail.com wrote:

My xml doc has many <title></title> and <title> in it, meaning the
nodes have no content (although some do). How can I test for this?

I tried title[. is null] (doesn't work)
I tried //title[node() is null] (doesn't work)
I tried //title[text() is null] (doesn't work)
I tried //title[text() = ''] (doesn't work)

Use
//title[not(text())]
for <title> elements which have no text content.
Or use
//title[not(node())]
for <title> elements which have no child nodes at all (i.e. which are
empty).

--

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

[KJ]

thank you very much!