python xlxml xpath expression to match substring in attribute

Question

Let's say I have the below XML

<root>
   <element class="Page" style="background: url(/images/RlEguQY3_ghsdr.png?1324483033) repeat left top;" />
   <element class="User" />
   <element class="Image" src="/images/bg.png" />
</root>

I am looking for a xpath expression which 1) matches all elements that have /images in the style attribute and 2) matches all Image elements that have /images in the src attribute

Any help greatly appreciated

Thanks

What does the XPath expression you are already using look like? What unexpected results are you seeing when you try to use the XPath expression you have devised yourself? — Paul Butcher
– Paul Butcher, Commented Dec 21, 2011 at 16:19

Dimitre Novatchev · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-21 17:16:50Z

10

 //element[contains(@style, '/images') or (@class='Image' and contains(@src, '/images'))]

(or something similar) should do it.

edited Dec 21, 2011 at 17:16

Dimitre Novatchev

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answered Dec 21, 2011 at 16:20

hcayless

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Dimitre Novatchev · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-21 17:22:29Z

1

I am looking for a xpath expression which 1) matches all elements that have /images in the style attribute

Directly translated to XPath:

/*/element[contains(@style, '/images')]

. . .

...

and 2) matches all Image elements that have /images in the src attribute

There are no Image elements in the provided XML document. Probably you meant: element elements with class attribute with value "Image":

/*/element[@class='Image'][contains(@src, '/images')]

Combined together, the two XPath expressions above give this:

/*/element
    [contains(@style, '/images')
   or
    @class='Image' and contains(@src, '/images')
    ]

It seems to me that most probable for the second requirement above you actually want the value of the src attribute to actually start with "/images". If so, the more precise XPath expression is:

/*/element
    [contains(@style, '/images')
   or
    @class='Image' and starts-with(@src, '/images')
    ]

answered Dec 21, 2011 at 17:22

Dimitre Novatchev

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1 Comment

Thomas Over a year ago

Thanks Dimitre. Very nice description

Paul Butcher · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-21 16:26:47Z

0

You need to use predicates, your predicate expressions will use the contains function. The union operator might also come in handy.

answered Dec 21, 2011 at 16:26

Paul Butcher

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