Select node without namespace with XPath

Question

I have a xml like

<root xmlns:ns1="http://foo">
    <ns1:child1>Text</ns1:child1>
    <ns1:child2>Number</ns1:child2>
</root>

Now I get this from different persons, so that for example person 2 sends me another message with the same structure like

<root xmlns:anotherNs="http://foo">
    <anotherNs:child1>Another Text</anotherNs:child1>
    <anotherNs:child2>Another Number</anotherNs:child2>
</root>

So the only difference is the name of the namespace. How can I select the content of child2 for both xml's with one XPath expression?

Something like "/root/child2" or "//child2" did not work.

Sebastian Brosch · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-06 10:30:25Z

22

Use the local-name() function like so:

//*[local-name()='child2']

edited Sep 6, 2017 at 10:30

Sebastian Brosch

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answered Feb 28, 2013 at 16:01

JWiley

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Michael Kay · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-28 16:50:55Z

2

You can bind any prefix you like (say banana) to the namespace "http://foo", and the expression /root/banana:child2 will find the child2 element, regardless what namespace prefix has been used in the source document. Only the namespace URI has to match.

answered Feb 28, 2013 at 16:50

Michael Kay

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